The Forgotten Sentinel
by phoenixforce50
Summary: This is the story of Renos Turro, a Jedi Sentinel around 3660 BBY. It is wartime with the Sith Empire under Emperor Vitiate. As the war escalates, Renos attempts to survive in a cold and unforgiving galaxy. Many trials will face the young Force-user, and his world will be forever changed.
1. Chapter 1

The Forgotten Sentinel

 **Chapter 1**

Renos Turro was his name. He was a Jedi Sentinel, and he was stuck on a pirate vessel in the Outer Rim. Going undercover to try and locate the pirate king to expose him to the local law enforcement that had been trying to capture him for years, Renos was found out as a spy and captured instead, but as punishment for his betrayal, the captain cut off his left hand. They didn't know about his Jedi status; miraculously, his cover remained largely intact. Unfortunately, this was the least concerning problem of the day.

"Hey, traitor. Got yer food." Said the pirate to Renos.

Renos looked up from his workbench. Renos was originally hired as this ship's mechanic. Since most of the crew were simply thugs out to make their fortunes, they had little in the way of maintenance. For this reason, they kept him alive, albeit under close scrutiny. The captain was a no-nonsense toydarian by the name of Pel Wotte, who thought Renos could be a useful hostage if they were caught by Republic patrols, which had been going further and further into the outer rim planets. If there was ever any sign of sabotage, the captain made it clear that he would kill Renos with no hesitation.

"Thanks." Said Renos. He reached out to take the tray, but the pirate dropped it.

"Whoops." He said, as he walked off. Renos scrounged the food and ate in silence with his remaining hand. The captain had taken his left hand as price for his betrayal; warning a Republic outpost of their arrival and getting caught in the act. After he ate, Renos returned to his secret project the crew didn't know about. It was almost done, he just needed some emitter nodes. He would have to wait until something broke before making the request for parts though. He had been playing the long game very carefully, and failure could be just one slightly exorbitant request away.

Captain Wotte, who had been making use of the ongoing war between the Republic and the Sith Empire to raid poorly-defended stations and outposts, stroked his chin in consideration as he flew over to his command chair. The traitor had been useful over the last few months. His repairs were always durable, and he was too smart to think he could sabotage their gear. Better still, he was a bargaining chip if they ever got caught by the Republic, and the Empire didn't care much about the pirate's activities as long as they didn't interfere with Emperor Vitiate's agenda.

"Captain, we are ready to jump to hyperspace." Called the navigator

"Good, we've got an appointment to keep. The king will want his share of our latest raid."

The ship jumped into hyperspace, and ended up coming out in a small asteroid belt in the middle of deep space. There were other ships closing in. The Bothan at the communications suite transmitted their ID code, and the other ships powered down weapons and began escorting the ship further into the asteroids, avoiding the numerous traps that had been placed there. The pirate frigate docked with the base hidden in the largest asteroid, and the toydarian captain and his command crew disembarked and, with slaves carrying the tribute to the pirate king, entered the large hall where the pirate king, Korgan, sat.

"Pel Wotte, as I live and breathe. You're late. I expected you 2 days ago." Said the mighty Korgan, an enormous Shistavanen. His fur was jet black and silky, clearly well-kept, with beads and smaller trophies woven onto the longer strands of fur, and his armour, bulky and regal, bore the mark of the Starwolf pirate clan prominently.

"Many apologies, my king. We had a traitor in our midst, and I had to stop him foiling our plans as well as punish him."

"I trust he is dead then?"

"No, I thought it best to use him as a bargaining chip in case we ever ran into Republic forces. He was a spy for them you see."

Korgan laughed, "You always were a clever one Wotte. It may still be useful to keep your traitor. He may have information the Empire wants. I'll put out an offer through my contacts, see if anyone is looking for him. What was his name?"

"Jarren Lob. He's looks like a Mandalorian, or at least in part."

"Find out, and let me know. I'll tell you where to take him if I get a buyer. In the meantime, keep him under guard."

Pel bowed his head, "Yes my king."

Pel and his command crew returned to the ship, leaving the pirate king Korgan to his business.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Renos sat in a corner of his cell. Meditating was all he could do in his spare time now. He had tried to entertain himself, but he felt as though meditating was what he should be doing right now. Besides, he was never very good at it so he could use the practice. As he meditated, he picked up the surface thoughts of the pirate outside his cell.

 _"Serves them right though, damn Republic, swaggering around the galaxy like they own the place."_

Renos frowned, this wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to get out of here before he went insane. There was no extraction; his missions were, usually, off the record. Which meant there was no liability if he was caught. This made him think he would need to accelerate his escape plan. He got up and went over to his workbench and began putting the finishing touches to his project. He would have to scrap some of the more advanced features he had planned to include, but he had a functional prototype. Renos smiled; he was going to get out, and he was going to figure out what was going on outside of this cell.

As Pel's ship left the asteroid belt, the toydarian suddenly had a feeling of worry. He quickly shook it off. He had more important things to worry about. Korgan had given him and some of the other pirate captains a specific mission, and his was to make contact with an agent Korgan had in the Empire to sell the Republic spy and any information he held.

"Captain, we have received the co-ordinates and are ready to make the jump to hyperspace." Said the navigator, snapping Pel from his thoughts. Pel flew over to his command chair and sat.

"Let's go then. Best not keep these Imperials waiting."

Pel's ship powered up the hyperdrive and accelerated towards the rendezvous.

Renos felt the hyperdrive engage, even over the inertial dampeners. He looked at his project. He had pretty much finished it. He picked it up with his remaining hand and activated it. Small motors whirred and cables pulled, engaging mechanisms. The fixture he had made prior awaited. He slowly brought them together. The initial components meshed together, and Renos engaged the internal locks that could only be engaged by a Force-sensitive. It all clicked into place, and the mechanisms operated smoothly. Renos grinned. It worked, perfectly. A pirate came alongside his cell, bringing his latest meal and latest set of gear for repair.

"Oi, got some stuff for you ta fix. Get to it, traitor." The pirate put down a large crate of assorted gear, and pulled out a set of keys to open the cell.

"Sure. I'll get right on that. Let me take a look and-" Renos flexed his right hand out and pulled the pirate toward him with the Force. The pirate flew towards Renos bewildered and hovered in front of him.

"What the-?" realisation flashed across the pirate's eyes, "A Jedi? But how-"

The pirate stopped again, as Renos brought up his left arm. In the dim light streaming through the cell door, the pirate could swear he saw the outline of a fist coming towards him, but the traitor lost his hand, how is this possible? Just as the fist flew into the pirate's face, he saw it fully in the light. It was metallic and mechanical. It slammed into the pirate's face and he went limp. Renos dropped the pirate and picked up the keys and his blaster pistol. He flexed his new, mechanical prosthetic hand. "I love having mechu-deru." He said to himself and ran down the corridor towards the small stolen shuttle the frigate had docked with it.

Renos made it to the hangar in a short time; distracting any pirates in his way with simple mind tricks and moving objects. As he boarded the hangar, he ran into a pirate who was about to make a supply run. The two of them stared at each other for a split second, then the pirate reached for his blaster, while Renos rushed him and swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ramp. Renos grabbed his blaster and stifled his cries as he dragged him inside the shuttle. Once inside, he closed the hatch and stared at the pirate, "Now, listen here. You and me, we're going for a little ride. You're going to fly this shuttle to the nearest planet, tell the crew you're making a supply run and you'll be back later. Understood?"

The pirate sneered in Renos' face, "Why the hell should I do anything you say?"

Renos didn't respond for a moment, then he turned around and, without looking, pointed the blaster straight at the pirate's face.

"Tell me, am I close enough? Or should I get closer?"

"You wouldn't-"

Renos fired, missing the pirate's ear by millimetres, silencing the pirate in fear.

"Are we clear on your instructions?" Renos turned back, his green eyes glaring into the pirate's. The pirate nodded slowly.

"Good, then get up and get us out of here. Now."

The pirate scrambled up and began the take-off sequence. The pirate transmitted a short message to the helm and the shuttle pulled away from the pirate vessel, heading into open space. The pirate engaged the retro-fitted hyperdrive Renos had installed and set a course for the nearest planet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As the shuttle came in for landing at the space port, Renos had already made his preparations to leave his former cover behind. The shuttle landed, and Renos put his mechanical hand on the pirate's shoulder.

"Well, this is goodbye. I can't say it's been fun knowing you guys, but today's your lucky day. Come with me."

Renos roughly pulled the pirate out of the pilot's seat and led him outside. Once there, he pushed a button on a detonator he had rigged up on the journey, and the shuttle exploded. The pirate jumped at the noise and turned to see the wreckage of the shuttle.

"Wha- why would you do that?" the pirate exclaimed, incredulous

"You must understand, I can't let you tell your friends about me. So, because this is your lucky day, you get to quit being a pirate and live a normal life. Talk to one of the shipwrights, there should be a job hauling cargo on one of the freighters. If you breathe a word about me to anyone, I will come back for you, and this time, I won't be so polite as to lead you off the ship before I push the button. Understood?"

The pirate scowled at Renos, "Understood, you jackal."

Renos' face was an impassive mask, "Good. Now get going. We both have places we'd rather be than here, it might look suspicious wouldn't you say?"

Renos let the pirate go and disappeared into the crowd that had gathered to stare at the wreckage. The pirate tried to follow his movements, but Renos was long gone.

"Hi, I saw the sign outside. You're looking for employees? I'm your man." Renos stood inside a small tech trader and repair store on Rishi. He hadn't been able to make it back to Coruscant because of the war; this was as close as he could get to the core systems. Although Rishi was known for being a haven for otherwise illegal activity, it was a good hiding spot for someone not wanting to be found.

The store owner, a large lasat sat behind the counter with his feet propped up. He straightened and looked Renos up and down. He noted his dextrous fingers and athletic physique, as well as the prosthetic left hand.

"Got yourself into some trouble eh?" the lasat gestured to Renos' hand

"Yeah, sort of. An industrial accident. They wouldn't pay me for the damages, so I quit, but now I need a job."

The lasat laughed, "So you act before you think eh?" the lasat brushed his striped fur and set his eyes at Renos'. Renos didn't flinch or look away. After a few uncomfortable seconds, the lasat leaned back in his chair and made a grunting noise.

"Why not. I could use an extra pair of hands, be they flesh or metal. I'm Kellon Oressos. Call me Kel." Kel held out a hand. Renos took it and shook it. As he drew near, the lasat's odour was made prominent. Renos fought the urge to gag; he had smelled worse things, but this was still unpleasant.

"So who are you?"

Renos briefly considered making a new identity, but it was easier to just use the current one.

"Jarren Lob. Pleased to be working with you Kel."

"Hah! We'll see about that. I got some crates out back that I need you to bring in. bring 'em in round front and put 'em in the storage room for me would you? I would help but my back's not what it used to be." The lasat stretched and put his feet back on the counter. _"This was almost too easy."_ Renos thought to himself. He nodded to Kel and walked briskly out to the rear of the store. There, he found a pile of crates stacked high, containing a wide variety of parts.

"I spoke too soon. Still, beats a pirate cell I guess."

He checked to make sure no one else was around, then carefully raised his hands and reached out towards the topmost crates. Using his Force-powered telekinesis, he brought them down one by one. The crates were old and didn't have built-in repulsorlifts, so he had to manually lug them back and forth in and out of the store. The whole process took an hour to complete, and when he was done, he walked over to the counter to talk to Kel.

"Finished. All the crates are in the storeroom. Nothing broken."

"Good! You work quickly, but still take enough time to get the job done well. I like that. Come, you can help me take inventory, never know when those damned traders will short-change you."

Kel got up and headed over to the storage room, picking up a data pad on his way. Renos followed him and noticed a T3 model droid by a charging port.

"Is that droid yours?" asked Renos

"Nah, belongs to a customer, says the power cell's not charging properly. I've changed it, checked the connections, I can't figure out what's wrong with the damned thing. Karabast! She's due tomorrow to pick it up! I still haven't figured out what wrong with it!."

Renos turned and looked at Kel sideways with a smile, "Karabast?"

Kel scowled at his own forgetfulness, "It's an old lasat term. Don't think too much of it."

"No, I like it. Fits the mouth nicely."

Kel's scowl lifted a little

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night."

The two entered the storage room and began to take inventory. After they were finished, it was nearly dark. Kel offered Renos a place to stay in the upper floor of the store, and Renos accepted, for the price of extra hours to pay rent.

Renos was about to head off to sleep, since Kel had already done so, but heard a quiet electronic beeping sound from downstairs. He wandered down and saw that the T3 droid had finished its charging cycle and had begun to wander around. A restraining bolt was affixed to its front.

"Hey there little guy," Renos cooed to the droid, which turned at noticing him. It made an inquisitive series of beeps and whistles

"I hear your power cell's giving you trouble, mind if I have a look?"

The droid seemed hesitant for a second, but made an affirmative noise. Renos walked over and opened the droid's rear access panel.

"What's your malfunction…"

He peaked around inside. Kel had already replaced the power cell with a fresh one, so that should have eliminated the problem, but if it was still there… Renos put his hand on the droids and closed his eyes. Focusing his thoughts and channelling his mechu-deru ability, he felt for that cause of the problem. He had worked on droids before, with and without mechu-deru, so he already had the innate understanding it granted the user. After a few seconds of scanning the droid in its entirety, Renos found the source of the problem: a cable had been improperly spliced and was leaching power away from the power cell at a much higher rate than normal. Renos smiled and retrieved a fusion cutter and proceeded to repair the droid. In a few minutes, the job was done and Renos sent the droid back to the charging port.

"You shut down for the night; that should have fixed it, so you should be fine by tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Renos woke to the sound of blaster fire and sat bolt upright in his small bunk, hitting his head on the low ceiling.

"Owww," he rubbed his head as the blaster fire continued. It was still dark outside, the early morning had yet to begin. He quickly recovered and ran down to the ground floor. He could see Kel firing a blaster rifle from behind a windowsill.

"Hey, Jarren, get over here and help me fend of these thieves!"

A blaster bolt hit the wall next to Kel's head

"Karabast! What are you waiting for?! Get your pistol and help!"

Kel returned fire and Renos dashed back upstairs and retrieved the blaster pistol he had taken off the pirate he had hijacked. When he returned downstairs, he took up position on the other side of the door and tried to stay calm. He had used a blaster before, and was a decent shot, but never against this many foes. Letting the Force guide him, he crouched low and fired wildly into the street. A couple of screams could be heard, and yelling followed shortly after. The blaster fire died down after that and the street was silent once again.

"Thanks Jarren. Great shooting, by the way."

"Thanks, but I just got lucky."

"Heh, sometimes that's all you need in this galaxy. Come on, we gotta repaint the front of the store before we open. Can't have it looking like someone shot it up."

"But someone did shoot it up."

"And that's why we're repainting it. Everything we need is in the storage room in a crate labelled 'repairs.' Fetch it will ya?"

Renos went off and retrieved the crate. The two of them spent the rest of the night painting in the near-darkness.

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say that was the reason you needed new employees?"

"Heh, you're sharp. Yeah, the last ones ran off after the last attack. They usually only stay on the outskirts of town, but they seem to think an old lasat won't pose much of a threat. Shows what they know! Hah!"

When morning came, Renos was sleeping in a chair by the front of the store. Kel woke him and told gave him a list of things for him to do.

"And make sure you're careful with those damned capacitors! They're high-end stock and if they get damaged it's coming out of your pay." He added as Renos began his duties. A few hours into the day, a woman dressed better than anyone else Renos had seen since he came to Rishi entered, flanked by to imposing-looking bodyguards.

"Kellon, I assume you have my droid?" the woman said in a tone that implied a higher station than Kel's

"Of course I do. I would never sell off a customer's droid. Ah… Jarren! Come help the lady with her droid!"

"Coming!" Renos walked over and led the woman to where the T3 droid was waiting. It had not been powered up since the previous night and sat there motionless.

"Here you are. All fixed. We replaced the power cell and corrected a wiring mistake which was causing the massive power drain. It should be good to go now."

The woman's face lit up at the news as if she was not expecting this

"Well, that's wonderful. I had heard Kellon was nothing more than a junker, but it seems he knows what he is doing after all."

Kel, at the mention of his name, had gotten up and wandered over.

"Here, what's this?"

The woman turned to him

"Your worker here was just informing me of how you replaced the power cell and repaired the wiring. I am very impressed. I had brought this droid to every repair place in town but no one could fix it. Here, your pay as agreed upon."

The woman paid Kellon and left with her droid without another word while he stood there speechless. He regained his senses and looked at Renos sideways with an accusatory look

"I never repaired any wiring. Did you lie to her?"

"No, you replaced the power cell and I inspected the wiring last night and fixed it. Sorry, I should have asked you first, but I can't help myself when it comes to tinkering."

Kel visibly brightened at that

"Well, the customer is happy, and a job well done is nothing to shake a bo-rifle at. I might just make a respectable mechanic out of you yet Jarren."

Renos thanked him and got back to work


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Renos had been working at Kel's Tech Repair and Traders for a few months now and almost had enough money to pay for a trip back to Coruscant on one of the larger, and relatively safer, cargo freighters that passed through Rishi. He and Kel had become good friends over the period of time, but Kel always made it clear that he was in charge, and never went easy on him.  
Another week before payday and he could leave Rishi for Coruscant and return to the Jedi temple. He smiled at the thought of leaving; Rishi was a nice enough place, having near-constant tropical weather, but the people were just as stormy as the weather some times. Thieves occasionally came to attack the district, but they had died down once they learned Kel had backup. Kel had also taught Renos how to shoot better as well in their spare time so he could better defend the store. Renos was grateful for the training; a Sentinel should have a thorough understanding of a variety of skills to match the situation as the need arose. Renos would say he was gifted in most areas, but was forever lacking in mental manipulation; never being able to do more than simple mind tricks on those with a weak mind. His duelling skills were above average, and he was especially gifted with telekinesis. That, combined with his mechu-deru, gave him a profound mastery over most technologies. He had swiftly impressed Kel with his innate ability to identify hidden faults and somewhat unorthodox repairs. It was what kept him alive in pirate captivity after all.

"Kel, I'm going to the markets for any parts that might be useful. Need anything specific?" Renos called as he made his way to the door

"Keep an eye out for any S-16 power converters; they're good bits of tech that I can always find a use for."

"Will do." Renos left and made for the centre of the trading district, a little farther inland, at a brisk walk.

The markets were bustling as always. Preachers called out for various religions, hawkers cried their wares at passers-by. Some recognised Renos and waved.

 _"It's too bad I can't live life like this normally. Responsibility is no fun at all. But it almost looks like the war hasn't touched this place."_ He mused as he passed through the crowd, careful to avoid the numerous pickpockets that were sure to be around. One brushed up alongside him and he reached over and grabbed the child by its neck. It turned out to be a dug. It was especially ugly, even for a dug. Renos held the child up, not hard enough to hurt it but enough to stop it squirming out of his grip.

"No stealing my money. You see this hand?" Renos waved his mechanical hand in front of the dug's face, "They cut it off because I did a naughty thing. You don't want that to happen to you do you?"

The dug looked at Renos' hand with interest, and slowly shook its head. He let it down and continued on his way, tossing the bag of spoils he had lifted off the dug when he had it in his grasp.

"Ah, kids, one way or another, they have to learn."

He carried on his way, picking up some bits and pieces, including a small amount of the requested power converters for Kel and made his way back. On the way there, he spotted a large group of people gathered near the store, and also the small column of smoke. He began to run towards the store, pushing people aside.

"Kel! Kel, are you alright?" he turned to one of the onlookers. Local firefighters had shown up and were dowsing the flames coming out of the building. Renos turned to the onlookers, "Did anyone see a large lasat come out of here? Anyone?" in response he received a series of shaking heads. Eh dumped his bundle of shopping and dashed inside the still-burning building. One of the firefighters tried to stop him but Renos shrugged him off and continued. Inside was a mess; that which wasn't on fire was completely destroyed. It was obvious that explosives had been used to start the blaze and cause the damage. He rushed over to the counter and checked it, but there was no sign of the lasat. He had a thought and ran to the back of the store to the storage room. From inside, he heard cries of pain. The heavy sliding door was caved in and stuck fast.

"Kel! Is that you in there?" Renos yelled over the flames

"Jarren! What are you doing in here? Get out!"

"Not without you! Stay put, I'll be right there!"

"As if I had a choice!"

Renos looked around in frustration, the heat from the flames was making it hard to concentrate, and the acrid smoke was beginning to make his breathing difficult. He needed to act, fast. He rammed the door with his shoulder, which did nothing. Running out of options, he put the life of an innocent over his cover.

"Stand back,"

He drew his hands in towards himself and with them, power from the Force, and unleashed it at the door, sending it flying inwards and hitting the opposite wall. He rushed in and began to look for Kel. He spotted the lasat under a pile of shelves that had fallen on top of him.

"Karabast Jarren, I told you to get out of here *cough*!"

"I can't *cough* leave you to die, not while I can do something!"

Renos began to move the shelves, but they were too heavy for him to lift.

"It's no use, if I can't lift them, there's no way-"

Renos raised his hands and lifted the shelves off of Kel with his telekinesis and pulled Kel to his feet.

"*cough* Not now, just run!"

The two made their way out the back way, just as the corridor behind them caved in. They stood outside doubled over, breathing in the relatively clean air. After a while, Kel spoke,

"You, you're a Jedi? What are you doing here then?"

"It's a long story. But I can't tell you, it'd put you in danger and I don't want that. I assume you've heard of the Starwolves then?"

"Of course, notorious pirate gang in the Outer rim. What of them?"

"I might've crossed one of their captains. And that's all you need to know really."

Kel whistled, before doubling over in another coughing fit. Renos brought him around to the front where the firefighters were still combatting the blaze. One of them took Kel aside to check his condition. Once the fire was out, another walked up to Renos,

"That was a brave thing you did, stupid, but brave."

"I couldn't leave him to die, not while I could still help."

"Well help you did, he's going to be just fine thanks to you. Heh, maybe we should call on you for our next assignment."

Renos smiled, "Thanks, but I think one near-escape from a building fire is enough for me."

The human firefighter nodded and returned to his teammates. Kel walked over to him

"Thanks kid. And I won't tell anyone what you did in there other than that you saved my life."

"Don't mention it Kel."

"I won't, didn't you hear me?"

Kel clapped Renos on the back, sending him staggering forward slightly and inspected the charred ruins of his store.

"Karabast, this is going to take forever to rebuild." Kel rubbed the back of his head, the fur had started to go bald there.

Renos began to ponder his situation; on the one hand, he could probably make it off-planet by now, but that would mean leaving Kel to rebuild his store by himself. But if he stayed, he would be away from the Jedi order for who knew how long. For all he knew, they were in need of him right now. After all, there was a war going on. Renos looked at Kel and sighed.

"Kel, I'll stay and help you get back on your feet. But I need to leave Rishi after that, as much as I hate to admit it, I need to return to the war effort."

Kel looked at Renos with a mixture of disappointment and sorrow, then resignation

"Fine, thanks for everything you've done 'till now. I'd hoped you'd stick around a while longer, but that could just as easily have been you trapped in there, and there's no way I could've rescued you like you did for me. Come on, let's see what's still intact."

As the two entered the charred remains of the building, Renos noticed something on the wall he had missed earlier. A mark was painted on the wall in red paint; a ring with a wolf's head baring it's fangs at the moon. Renos' eyes went wide. This was the mark of the Starwolves; they knew he was here.

"Oh karabast. Kel, scratch that. We need to leave, now."

Kel came over to where Renos was standing,

"Why? Whats wro- oh karabast."

"That's what I said. How did they know I was here?"

"We get all sorts of customers, it's possible one of them mentioned you to someone."

Kel went behind the counter to a concealed floor safe and retrieved a series of items, including a stash of money and several trinkets. One of which was a picture of two lasat. One was Kel, the other was unknown to Renos, but he could guess. Renos made his way up the ruined staircase to get the few personal items he had accumulated while on Rishi, namely the blaster pistol Kel had given him and his communicator.

"Well, I guess was a good a reason as any to leave." Renos and Kel left for the starport and boarded a freighter bound for the core systems. Kel didn't feel like returning to Lasan, so he decided to go with Renos to Coruscant.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kel and Renos arrived at Coruscant with no incidents, a small miracle all things considered. The bustling city-planet shone below, the spires of the Jedi temple were visible from the skyline.

"I've never visited Coruscant before, but I'd always wanted to. So this is your home?" said Kel, looking out the transparasteel viewport

"More or less. Once I got my… promotion, I was sent off-planet every other day. But I spent my childhood here, so probably yes."

"Heh, sounds intense. Is that how you lost your hand?"

"It's part of it."

The ship touched down on a landing pad and its passengers disembarked. With the handful of possessions the two of them had brought with them, they made their way to the Jedi temple. Once they were outside the massive series of steps, Renos turned to Kel,

"Wait here, I've got something that should help you. I shouldn't be long."

Renos hurried up the stairs and headed straight for the dormitories. It was early morning, and there were few Jedi wandering the halls in pairs. Most would be sleeping or meditating, others were off-planet for the war. He made his way to his bunk and retrieved a small cache of emergency credits and brought them to Kel.

"Here, this is for you. It's emergency credits I had stashed away. Your store was razed because of me, and I feel responsibility for that. Take this and use it to rebuild."

Renos pressed the credits into Kel's arms. Kel stood there speechless.

"Jarren, I don't know what to say..."

"Don't say anything. And my real name is Renos by the way. And there is one thing I will ask of you, when you get a new store up and running, could you keep an ear open for anything interesting? I could always use information, and if the last one was anything to go by, a tech store and traders is a wealth of information. Everything breaks at some point." Renos said with a smile.

Kel smiled back and gave a knowing smile,

"Sure thing Renos."

"Here's my personal commlink channel. And here is the channel for someone who should be able to help you set up in any trading district in this hemisphere. I know you'll be fine."

Kel shook Renos' hand and departed. Renos watched him go and re-entered the Jedi temple. He went to see his supervisor for the mission.

"Ah, Renos. Glad to see you made it back in one…" he trailed off as he saw Renos' mechanical hand, which was not there the last time they met.

"Yeah, two pieces now Master Garruk. Sorry to report, the mission was a failure. I couldn't get the location of the pirate king's lair."

"Ah, that's fine. Mopping up a few pirates is something that can be done when we don't have a war to win. I only sent you because you were begging for something to do. My master always said, 'Idle hands makes an idle mind.' Anyway, you return at a most opportune moment; I have a new and far more important mission for you. We have the location of a high priority target on Dromund Kaas, a Sith by the name of Mandela Quann."

"Wait, did you say Dromund Kaas?"

"I did, and I know it is the capital of the Empire, but Quann has recently made off with some very important documents from the archives on Tython. Luckily, they had a hidden tracking beacon so we know exactly where she is. You will be inserted under stealth with Master, or General now, Krebs. There is a ship waiting to go now. Master Krebs will be by within the day, I'll have him contact you when he's ready. I suggest you prepare for a cold climate, the tracking beacon is indicating a base in the northern region. Good luck, Investigator."

Master Garruk left, and Renos returned to his bunk to prepare for the mission. He changed into a form-fitting, thermally insulated black body glove and retrieved his two lightsabers. He ignited the mismatched hilts and watched the yellow light illuminate the small, tidy room, the shadows played along the flat edges. He disengaged them and separated them into two pieces each as they flew around his body, securing themselves to small places on his body for concealment. The lightsabers were found with him as an infant, along with the blood red scarf hanging over his bed. Although he knew next to nothing of his parents, he knew that one of them, or perhaps both, were Jedi. The thought made him excited that he was part of a familial tradition, even though the only people he had considered family were the old mandalorian couple who owned a dress-making shop near the temple, who took care of all the infants found abandoned at the temple's doorstep.

 _"I must go visit when I get back."_ Thought Renos to himself as he packed the last of the things he would be bringing. To kill time, he went over to his workbench and began to tinker with his new hand, thinking of new features he could add.

"Hmm, I didn't get time to finish the stun device, but the comm suite looks to be working fine, and the scomp link too. Wrist motor's good, if I rewire the capacitors, maybe I can overclock it."

Settling into a meditative state, he began to pull it apart piece by piece using the Force. Although he had very steady hands, when it came to fine work, he rarely took the chance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jedi General Krebs called Renos at the break of dawn. Renos stirred from his workbench where he had fallen asleep working on his hand. He pushed a button on his wrist and a small hologram appeared.

"This is General Krebs. I take it you are the Sentinel Investigator I am to have join me on this mission?"

"Yes, Investigator Renos Turro, ready to go."

"Excellent. Please meet me at these coordinates in one hour. I don't want to miss our window. Krebs out."

The hologram faded away and Renos hurried to leave. The two of them boarded a small frigate and it shot off into space.

After an uneventful flight, the frigate re-entered realspace some distance from Dromund Kaas. Krebs and Renos entered a small stolen Imperial shuttle and made for the location of Mandela Quann. The tracking device's signal stopped just above the atmosphere; it was being jammed from below, but it gave the impression that it was indicating a northern supply base.  
They talked their way past the Imperial blockade and landed in a forest north of the base. By the time they had arrived, it was already well past sunset. Renos left the shuttle first and took to the trees, his lithe profile made him near-invisible among the boughs. Krebs followed on foot, dressed in a dark robe for concealment. There was light snow dusting the ground, but Krebs' footsteps made no sound.

An hour passes, and Renos stops to sense for any disturbances in the Force around him. Finding none, he opens a commlink to Krebs,

"Hey, how are you doing? You seem tense."

Krebs answers with a calm but suspicious voice, "I'm fine, I just heard that there was a Sith lord here. maybe she's gone now but still, I can't let my guard down. But how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, I just hope my hand doesn't seize up in this cold. I don't think I brought enough tools to fix it if it does."

Renos hears something up ahead and stops dead

"Hold up, we may have something."

He pulls out a pair of macrobinoculars and scans the area. He spots a large beast roaming through the trees in the distance.

"False alarm, sorry."

Krebs responds, "It's alight, there's nothing bad about being safe. Hey, how about if I make you a fire to warm you up." His voice is calm but a tinge of worry is present

"Probably a bad idea. This forest is so dark, we'd literally be spotted from a mile away. I'll live. If worse comes to worse, I've still got my other hand and you to back me up. I see a clearing ahead, I'm going to check it out."

"Roger roger." Krebs continues making his way silently through the forest as Renos presses on ahead. "Man, it's really cold here…" he mumbles to himself

Renos comes up to the clearing. From his perch in the trees, he spots a small encampment of Imperial soldiers.

"I've got a squad of Imperial soldiers straight ahead of your position just under half a click. I count a dozen. Shouldn't be a problem for you."

Krebs responds through the commlink, "That's small but weak- no. You cannot underestimate your enemy my friend. I will engage through stealth."

Krebs pulls out a pair of Cyberlink Freefire pistols and sneaks up to the edge of the clearing. Renos skirts around the camp, making note of the enemies' positions. He reopens the channel to Krebs

"Krebs, they've got two guards, the rest are unarmed. I can break their blasters and tell you when to engage."

"Roger roger." Replies Krebs. Renos sneaks around the camp to where the rest of the soldiers are huddling around a small heating unit. Most of their blasters are in a small pile nearby. He reaches out with the Force and using mechu-deru, removes a single pin off of each blaster's trigger mechanism, rendering them useless.

"Krebs, go now."

Krebs emerges and shoots the two guards in the chest before they can respond and swiftly enters the camp. The imperial soldiers, with practised efficiency, pick up their blasters and advance towards the noise in formation.

"Spread out, I can't raise the other two, I think we have intruders." Calls one of the soldiers to the rest.

Renos sneaks around behind them and remotely activates a thermal detonator on one of the soldiers' belt. The soldier hears the noise, and panics. He yanks the thermal detonator off his belt and throws it away, seconds before it explodes. Renos guides its trajectory towards another set of soldiers, killing them when it explodes. The other eight guards are drawn to the noise. From behind a supply crate, Krebs steps out and begins to fire. The soldiers that don't die immediately attempt to return fire, only to find their blasters make a clicking noise and the triggers fall out. Krebs proceeds to shoot them too.

"Amazing job there Renos." Says Krebs over comms

Renos smiles as he reaches the commanding officer of the squad. As he approaches, he steps on a branch and the officer turns to face him. The officer pulls the trigger but again, nothing happens. Renos runs and slugs the officer with his metal hand, then grabs him around the shoulder and waist and throws him to the ground. Activating the stun device in his knuckles, three prongs pop out with electricity arcing between them. He jams it into the officer's exposed neck, downing him.

"Thanks Krebs. I've incapacitated the officer. Hopefully we can get some useful information from him."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Krebs and Renos round up the survivors who had wisely surrendered, bringing it to a total of three who had surrendered and the unconscious officer. Krebs roughly pushes his prisoners to the ground in a row. Renos paces in front of them menacingly, and begins to speak with a vicious tone,

"Well, good of you to surrender, it increases your odds of survival. Now, as you can see, we have your commanding officer unconscious. But if any of you wish to forfeit the information we seek do so now and we will be more lenient. We might even let you leave here unbound."

Renos pauses to let the soldiers thoughts go to the possible information they would need, allowing Krebs to read their surface thoughts, before continuing,

"We are after a Sith by the name of Mandela Quann. We know she's here, and we know you know exactly where she is now."

The Imperials remained silent, but Renos continues,

"Anyone? Really? I'm sure it's a long walk back to your base, and it's getting oh so cold right now."

Krebs walks up and puts a hand on Renos' arm.

"Renos, let me. I have a better move."

Krebs approaches the soldiers and waves his hand in front of them,

"You will tell us the location of the Sith."

The Imperial on the left frowns, then speaks, "You Jedi think you own the galaxy. Well you don't! we won't ever tell you-"

He is interrupted by the soldier on the right,

"She's at our base, two kilometres to the southeast."

The other two Imperial soldiers look at the right one incredulously. Renos shakes his head slightly,

"Krebs, I didn't want them to know we were Jedi." He says to Krebs in hushed tones

Krebs smiles, "Hehe, if I die, then at least they will know who I am. Will I don't know if the information is still relevant, but we've got too much ground to cover so it's all we've got since the signal is being jammed here."

Renos sighed, leaving a cloud of mist from his mouth

"Fine. If it's wrong, we can come back."

Renos looks over his shoulder to see the sleeping officer,

"Actually, I just got an idea. Hey Krebs, want to play dress-up?"

Krebs and Renos made their way towards the base on foot. Krebs had sent the troopers out to patrol the western side of the forest with his Jedi mind tricks, Renos envied him slightly; he was never any good at anything beyond a simple distraction. The two of them had taken the officer's armour and one of the troopers and were now disguised and making their way to the base, with Renos as the officer and Krebs as an injured trooper.

"Thanks for dealing with those troopers, I was never really any good at mind manipulation; telekinesis is really more my thing. He said the base should be just up ahead." Said Renos

"Yes, from what your master told me, you are quite adept with the Force in a variety of areas bar that one. However, I think I may have the edge in combat skill over you. Though I wonder why the other Jedi despise me using blasters often."

"We are Sentinels; we're supposed to carry out our duties by any means necessary, including blasters. We fight smart, not hard. And I'd say they're just jealous you have an greater effective range. Although, with respect sir, even though you're a general, doesn't mean you're a better duellist than me, it just means you haven't seen me fight yet." Replied Renos with a smile

"You're right my friend, I cannot underestimate the enemy. For now let's just say you can throw me away faster than I can swing my lightsabre. And don't call me sir, call me trooper because you're the sir now remember?" he laughs a little

"Right." He raises his macrobinoculars to scan the area,

"Up ahead I see a structure, think that's it?" he passes them to Krebs, who takes them and looks

"Yes, I see guards, a lot of them. I think she's there." He returns the macrobinoculars "Lead the way sir."

"Right this way soldier."

The pair continue their fake limp towards the base,

"Do you think I'll need to manipulate them?" asks Krebs

"Not yet, let me try talking our way through then if it goes wrong, go for it. Don't forget to act injured."

They approach a pair of guards outside the entrance, one of them raises his blaster and points it at them,

"Halt! Where's the rest of your squad?"

Renos replies, "We were ambushed by Republic forces, they jammed our comms and killed most of us before running deeper into the forest. I sent my men to follow them, but brought this one here because he needs immediate medical attention and to get reinforcements."

Krebs holds his shoulder, where a blaster bolt had pierced the armour

"Ugh, it hurts,"

"Man up soldier, we're back at base, so quit your whining."

Renos turns to the guards, "May we enter?"

They shrug and one checks their clearance. They are waved through and one comments as they pass,

"You know where the medbay is. I hope it's not too serious."

"I think it was a grazing shot, but he can't move his arm at all, which means he can't shoot. Hence why I escorted him back. Safety in numbers and all that."

The guard nods and Renos and Krebs enter. Once inside and out of sight, Krebs drops the act

"Well that went well. I can sense the Sith, so she can probably sense us too. If we stick together we should be able to make it through this."

Renos nods and they make their way deeper into the base. As they approach the source of the disturbance, Krebs frowns,

"I fear our target is stronger than the sum of our strength."

Renos replies with a confident tone, "We'll do what we can. Our orders are to eliminate or capture her and secure the stolen documents, but I don't think capture is possible given our location. We could try to lure her outside and defeat her, but there's no way we're capturing her inside."

Krebs stops and points down the corridor into the room ahead,

"Is that her do you think?"

Up ahead is a female figure in dark robes wearing a white and red mask with swirling patterns on it. Krebs continued,

"It looks like her, maybe if we tell her the Republic forces story and add some Jedi we can lure her outside."

"I'll back up whatever story you come up with." Replied Renos, who backed away into the shadows.

Krebs ran forward into the room and dropped to one knee, bowing his head,

"Sorry to interrupt my lord, but there are reports of Republic forces along the western edge of the forest."

Renos ran in, pretending to pant and also falls to one knee.

"My lord, they are jamming communications and they have a Jedi with them, I just escaped with my life."

Mandela turned and looked at the two of them with a strange look in her eye. She was impossible to read with her mask on.

"I do feel as though something is wrong. Very well, I shall go investigate. You two come with me."

She stalks past them and calls a group of her men to follow. Krebs and Renos follow behind and Krebs whispers, "I think she's on to us."

"If we stay close to here, I doubt she'll suspect us. What kind of idiotic intruder would willingly stay this close to a sith?" replied Renos

Once all her men had assembled, Mandela turned to face Krebs and Renos

"Well? What are you waiting for? Lead the way captain."

"Yes my lord, there this way."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Renos led the small party out of the base and towards the camp they had found earlier. Krebs comes up alongside him and whispers,

"I'll take the troopers, you handle her."

Renos nodded affirmative, then spoke to the Sith

"My lord, should we have taken a vehicle? It's not too late to turn back."

"No, on foot we can surprise them… hmm…" she increased her pace to match Renos' and looked at him carefully

"There's something different about you captain…"

Behind them, the troopers assembled into two lines of three. Renos clears his throat,

"My lord? What is different? If you mean the weight I've lost while stationed here, it's the cold climate I think."

"No, it's something else. I sense a feeling of anger from you, and you trooper," she nodded to Krebs,

'But I don't know why…"

The party continued to march deeper into the forest. It was near pitch-black inside,

"Well, no disrespect my lord, but I think we have bigger issues at present. If those damnable Jedi are here, that means they knew you were here too. If we capture one alive, maybe you could interrogate them."

Renos turned to the assembled Imperial troopers,

"I suggest we split up here and comb the forest. From what I saw, they were hiding in the trees, so keep your eyes peeled."

He turned back to Mandela, "My lord, do you wish for an escort?"

Mandel smiled behind her mask,

"No captain, or should I say, _Jedi_."

The troopers behind her pointed blasters at Renos and Krebs. Krebs sighs,

"Well, it was fun playing while it lasted." He grabs his blasters and shoots at the troopers, while Renos leaps into the air above the troopers' fire. While in mid-air, he pulls his lightsabre parts together with the Force and assembles them as a saberstaff in his hands. He lands behind the troopers,

"Have it your way then."

He pushes out his hands and the gas ignition chambers in the blasters crack and burst, igniting the gas and exploding violently. The troopers clutch their burned hands, most injured beyond healing. Krebs finishes the last of the troopers and yells at Renos

"Renos! Look out!"

By this time, Mandela had drawn her twin lightsabers and leaped at Renos, who blocked at the last second,

"Not bad Jedi… but not good enough." She backs away and quickly follows with a blast of Sith lightning before retreating into the trees, dodging a shot from Krebs.

Renos cries out in pain but abruptly stops, revealing his hand sparking as the electricity was channelled into the capacitors. He held his saberstaff in his left hand and gestured for Mandela to attack him, goading her.

"I didn't even feel that."

Mandela snarls,

"Do not… underestimate me Jedi!" she charges and makes power attacks at Renos, who dodges and parries all the while. Krebs draws his lightsabre and begins to attack Mandela, who backs off under the assault. Renos called over to Mandela,

"I wasn't underestimating you, in fact, just for you, you get to see my special trick."

Renos held his saberstaff out in front of him and it began to spark about the wrist, which began to rotate. As it accelerated, the twin blades of the lightsabre made a circle of yellow plasma that shone in the darkness. He leaps forward with a cry, spinning in the air and furiously attacking, kicking up snow as he did so, while Krebs backs off to catch a short breath.

"Fine, by your games Jedi." Says Mandela. She charges Renos and stabs his left arm dead centre, piercing the robotic hand. Krebs takes the opportunity to attack her right arm, disarming and wounding her. She swipes back with her left hand, cutting through Krebs' chestplate but not his skin.

"Karabast! Two can play at that game." Says Renos as Krebs locks lightsabers with her. He retreats up a nearby tree and clears his mind, focusing on the focusing crystal in Mandela's lightsaber. Twisting his hand, he shifts it out of alignment and disengages the blade, just as she is about to attack Krebs again. Before he can get an attack in, however, Mandela screams at them,

"You Jedi scum! I shall not lose!" she blasts Krebs' with an overwhelming Sith lightning attack, sending him back into a tree. He manages to get his lightsaber up to block it, but not enough of it.

"Ren, now it's your turn." He throws his blue lightsaber at Renos in the tree and falls to the ground, spasms rock his body. Renos catches it and yells to Mandela,

"Hey bitch! Up here!"

He leaps from the tree to attack Mandela with three lightsaber blades ignited.

"Not yet Jedi!" she responds with another blast of Sith lightning, while Krebs tries to stand. Renos catches all the lightning on his left hand like a lightning rod, charging the capacitors.

"Not yet for what? Being a bitch?"

He powers through the onslaught,

"Because if that was the case, we wouldn't have made it this far then!"

Renos throws Krebs' lightsaber at Mandela on a diagonal across her right side. Mandela dodges to her right. She is momentarily distracted by it and the lightning ceases. Renos lunges forward, stun prongs extended, only two of the three still work, but they have been overcharged with the Sith's own lightning. He rams it into her unprotected side and delivers a massive voltage.

"Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!" she screams in pain and falls down to the ground, unconscious.

Krebs finally manages to stand and retrieves his lightsaber from the snow.

"Great work Renos."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Renos smiled at Krebs, breathing heavily,

"Thanks, although my hand is busted now. I'll need replacement parts. It took me months in pirate captivity to make this, but it shouldn't take too long this time, still…"

He disengages his saberstaff and pries it out of his now immobile left hand,

"It's like losing your baby teeth, or something. Just gotta grow out of it eventually. Thanks, by the way." He gestures to Krebs' lightsaber

"No problem," Krebs crouches over Mandela's immobile form and searches her, eventually finding the stolen documents.

"Aha! Now let's get her to the ship."

"Sure, let me just check what still works on this thing."

Renos inspected his hand; the wires for each finger motor had been severed, the comm suite was completely destroyed. The only thing that was still functional in any sense was the stun device, although he doubted it could deliver sufficient current to knock anyone out without an extra charge.

The two of them trudged back to the ship in relative quiet with Renos carrying Mandela, bound and gagged. They reached the ship and he secured her in a passenger seat, and addressed Krebs' wounds using the medical supplies Krebs had brought. He calls the extraction ship to come and get them and begins the take-off sequence. Right before the entry ramp had closed fully, a sniper shot rang in the distance, and punched through Mandela's skull, frying her brain instantly.  
They both turned at the noise, Krebs immediately recognised the blast.

"Dammit, go go go!" he ran up to the pilot's seat and the shuttle began to lift off the ground. From inside, a loud bang was heard through the metallic frame of the shuttle, then a green lightsaber swung through the transparasteel and destroyed the controls, sending the shuttle crashing to the ground. As Renos and Krebs crawled out of the flaming wreckage, their assailant was nowhere to be seen. Renos coughs from the smoke,

"Karabast, *cough* Who was that?"

Krebs, in some amount of pain now, and several pieces of shrapnel in his side, replies weakly,

"Rek Mass, a mandalorian bounty hunter who sides with the Empire."

Renos draws a single yellow lightsaber and ignites it,

"Try and call for extraction to come get us, let them know our situation." He tries to sense for any other presence nearby,

"What are we in for here Krebs?"

"We won't live long if he's hunting us. We should find cover, and quick."

Renos goes and hoists Krebs carefully over his left shoulder.

"Watch my back, OK?" says Renos with a chuckle.

"In this condition, I'm not better than a human shield."

From above them in the trees, a figure, dressed in beskar mandalorian armour jumped off a tree branch and ignited his green saberstaff, aiming a stab at the weakened Krebs. Krebs pushes Renos away and meets Rek's blade with his own. The two had a history, and it came down to this encounter.

"We meet again… and maybe for the last time." Said Krebs as he continued to counter Rek's attacks.

Renos, meanwhile stumbles away from them. He watches, knowing that any interference at this point could prove fatal to one or both of the Jedi. Looking back at the smouldering remains of the shuttle, he runs towards it, hoping Krebs could hold his own a little longer.  
Rek notices Renos' attempt to flee, and Force pushes Krebs through a tree while attempting to catch Renos in a Force grip. Krebs charges Rek and makes him lose his concentration, attacking furiously to back him against a large tree.  
Renos drops down and looks around at the shuttle. The communications array had been completely destroyed in the initial attack. Not even his mechu-deru could repair it.

"Karabast."

He looks around for anything else that might be of use. He spots large cables sparking from the engine. He charges his hand's capacitors with them then, inspiration strikes. He begins to pull pieces of debris towards him and begins to build.

As Krebs made his attack, Rek countered with his own blast of lightning, knocking Krebs back, and attempts to crush the remains of the shuttle where Renos was. Krebs once again intercepts him with a powerful strike that bounces off Rek's beskar-plated shoulder.

"You've already destroyed it, no need to destroy it more!" he yelled at Rek

Renos ducks under the pieces of burning metal as he finishes his device. He pulls it over his back and attaches the cables to his mechanical hand. he tightens straps and makes his way back towards Rek and Krebs.  
As Renos approached, Rek threw Krebs with tremendous force against a wall of the shuttle then turned to face Renos. Krebs lay there bloodied but still tried to stand, he calls out to Renos,

"Be… careful… Ren…"

Renos nods at Krebs and makes his way forward. In the dark, his silhouette looks no different than normal.

"Hello there," he calls out to Rek. From behind him, four large mechanical arms made from the shuttle's landing gear whip out at speed. At the end of each arm is a lightsaber; two from Mandela and Renos' standard two. The lightsabers ignite one by one, and he gets into position with a flourish.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Rek laughed at the sight of Renos' four mechanical arms, as such a tactic was sure to be difficult to control and lacking strength behind any of the blows. Rek made a defensive stance, spinning his green saberstaff. He lifted a nearby boulder with the Force and rolled it towards Renos, and fired his heavy blaster pistol. Renos pushed himself out of the way using the hydraulic stabilising leg on the rig with frightening speed.  
Nearby, Krebs attempts to ignite his lightsaber and rejoin the fight, but coughs up blood and collapses again. Renos attacks with the mechanical arms with immense momentum. Once cleaves straight through a tree with no signs of slowing. Rek dodges all the attacks and is forced backwards.

"You Jedi are so weak; you can't even fend for yourself. Depending on this machinery to battle for you? Disgraceful."

Rek counters a blow and begins to defend more aggressively, tapping into the dark side of the Force to amplify his strength. He powers through the onslaught and sends Renos backwards with a Force repulse, as he regains his footing. Renos slides back, but stops himself with the stabiliser leg, only sliding a few feet.

"I can play that game too, and it's my speciality."

Renos pushes back with a Force repulse even stronger than Rek's, pushing up snow and cracking nearby tree trunks and sends Rek flying backwards. Rek catches his fall with his jetpack and lands on his feet, laughing. He begins to Force crush Renos' mechanical arms.  
The arms began to make whining noises as they began to lose structural integrity. Krebs had finally managed to get back up, and had a wild look in his eye. With obvious effort, he sprints at Rek and attacks hard and fast, catching him off guard. Rek stops his Force crush and defends against Krebs, who makes noises of pain as he attacks.

"Krebs…" Renos watches as his companion attacks with a vicious fury indicative of one who had turned to the dark side for power. Renos runs forward, with his mechanical arms poised to strike, arched like fingers around him. He struck at Rek's saberstaff, giving Krebs a momentary reprieve, and manages to catch both ends and apply a torque, twisting it out of Rek's hands. Renos Force pulls it into his hands and smile, but Rek already reacts and boosts himself to Renos and kicks him in the face and retrieves his saberstaff. He turns to Krebs and begins to attack him again.

"Re…" Krebs was lying in the snow motionless as he loses consciousness.

Renos intercepts Rek and catches him full in the gut with one of his mechanical arms, winding him. He throws Rek through the forest, and the lightsaber on the end of the arm catches on Rek's jetpack thruster, destroying it. Rek catches a tree branch and activates his cloak, hiding in the shadows. Renos, unable to see Rek, reaches out with the Force to find him. He finds him in the canopy, but his presence fades almost immediately until he was gone completely.

"What?" exclaimed Renos, still not opening his eyes

A blaster bolt comes out of nowhere, then another from somewhere else. Rek dashed through the trees with Force-augmented speed, faster than Renos could follow. He couldn't sense his presence, but he could sense his technology. Reaching out once more, dodging and deflecting the blaster bolts all the while using a blind-fighting technique he learned from a Jedi Temple Guard, he finds Rek's blaster and concentrates with mechu-deru. With a wave of his hand, he breached the gas canister of the blaster, causing a small explosion in the trees.  
Rek disengaged his cloak and rushed Renos with a lunge. He fired his wrist rockets and followed with an attack with his saberstaff. Renos instinctively moved a mechanical arm to defend himself, the rocket detonated, destroying the already weakened arm. With the others he blocked the saberstaff. As the two stood there locked, Renos said,

"Why are you going after us? Is there no way to resolve this other than violence?"

Rek sneered behind his helmet and replied,

"Saboteur of Imperial intelligence system, destroyer of multiple Imperial outposts, undercover spy for the Jedi… How long do you think you'd stay hidden... Renos. Turro."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Renos' eyes widened as Rek revealed he knew who he was.

"Looks like my reputation precedes me, I must be doing it wrong. I take it there's no way to convince you to let us leave here alive?"

"To leave here alive would depend on you-"

Renos uses the conversation to stab straight down at Rek's face with a mechanical arm. Rek splits his saberstaff into two lightsabers and barely blocks the stab in time. Renos presses the advantage and swings at Rek's unguarded side, finding a gap in the beskar plate and making a cut into his side. The plasma blade immediately cauterizing the wound. It wasn't enough to kill but would cause serious pain nonetheless.

"Well you crashed our ship and we have no way to call for help. So the only way would to steal one of your ships, which would involve us getting away from you." chided Renos, "Hey, works for me."

Renos pulled a grenade from his stolen Imperial armour and triggered it. He tossed it up in the air and hit it with an arm towards Rek, and it detonated with a cloud of smoke and fire. Renos rushed over to Krebs and grabbed his unconscious form then rushed back towards the base at top speed.  
As the smoke cleared, Rek held his injured abdomen and groaned,

"Urgh, stupid Jedi."

He fired his grappling hook into the trees to catch up to Renos, who was using his stabiliser leg to propel himself forward. Rek unloaded another salvo of wrist rockets, which Renos barely dodged. Renos increased his pace by using the arms as legs and rushed out of the forest like a gazelle. As he just dodged another rocket. He patted the flames on his shoulder out and leaped forward, finally free of the confines of the trees.  
When Rek reached the treeline, he pulled his blaster rifle and fired at Renos' retreating figure. The mechanical arm rig took most of the attack and began to spark; the arms began to move slower and their movements became jerky, until they stopped dead. Renos retrieved his two lightsabers from the arms and cut them off to lose the dead weight. He made a desperate sprint for the hangar.  
To his horror, he was met by two masked Sith Assassins, and a squadron of Imperial troopers. Rek was still behind him, and ignited his saberstaff once again.

"Karabast!" Renos loudly exclaimed. In a last-ditch effort, he reached out with mechu-deru to the nearest Starfighter, which engaged its engines and flew out of the hangar. The troopers ducked below it instinctively. Renos jumped, using the rig's failing hydraulics to get extra air and landed on top of it. he opened the hatch and carefully placed Krebs inside and released the rig from his back. It fell to the ground below as the fighter flew through the air. Renos breathed a sigh of relief,

"Krebs, we made it. Please tell me you're still alive. Krebs? Krebs! Don't you die on me!"

Krebs opened his eyes and spoke with a raspy voice,

"My time has come my friend… I don't have much time left," he handed Renos a pair of lightsaber and blaster pistols, "I entrust everything I have to yo- *cough* you! Do not fall to the dark side! Be strong and don't underestimate your enemies… may the Force be with you…"

Krebs lets out one final fit of coughing, and then falls limp in Renos' arms. Renos bows his head,

"And with you, friend."

Renos took the controls and piloted towards the upper atmosphere. He transmitted his security code to the Republic frigate that was just out of system waiting for them. He gunned it past the Imperial blockade, who responded too late with multiple turbolaser cannons fired in his direction.

"Blast it, flying's for droids." Said Renos as he dodged another salvo.

A wing of fighters was dispatched after him, but just as they closed in, the frigate dropped out of hyperspace, firing at the fighters and warding them off as Renos boarded. They didn't stay long enough to destroy any more fighters and jumped back into hyperspace.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Renos stood next to his former master, dressed in his ceremonial Jedi robes. He rarely wore them at all nowadays, requiring a disguise for the majority of his missions. The funeral pyre illuminated the assembled Jedi, the flames flickering against the night sky of Coruscant.

"Well Renos, you did well. It was not your fault you could not save General Krebs, but at least he died like he lived; fighting for the cause he believed in." Renos' master was attempting to be consoling, but she was never particularly good at it

"Thank you, but that doesn't change the fact he is dead."

"This is a war, we can all but hope that any of us will live to see tomorrow." The twi'lek watched the flames die, and Renos looked at her with a strange look on his face, before turning back to the flames

"Survival is not ensured by the strength to carry on, but the wisdom to make the right choices." She added quietly

"What?"

"Something that Krebs once told me a while ago, he said that was part of why he accepted the position of General, against his better judgement."

"Why would they send a general on a data recovery mission?"

His master shrugged, "He volunteered. I think he had a personal history with that Quann woman. But they both lie dead so we will never know for sure."

Renos and his former master watched silently as the flames consumed his body.

The next couple of months passed quietly. Renos used the spare time to construct a new mechanical hand from proper materials, although he was unable to acquire some phrik alloy. As he meditated with other Jedi, his wrist began to bleep quietly, indicating an incoming transmission. It was a text-only message indicating for him to meet an operative at this time and place. Renos got up and did so immediately, eager for something to do. When he reached the Jedi temple's communications room, a figure in a dark brown cloak stood next to the holo-projector, awaiting his arrival.

"You asked for me, I assume, so here I am."

The contact kept his hood up and spoke to Renos,

"We have another assignment for you."

"I serve at the council's request. What would you ask of me?"

"The Republic's SIS is too inefficient, Imperial Intelligence has outsmarted us at every turn. So we need you to infiltrate them."

Renos was taken aback by the request. He responded, his voice showing how unsettled he was,

"You want me to infiltrate the Imperial Intelligence network. All right, did you have some kind of plan for me to follow? This is an unusually big ask, I must admit."

"As you may know, Imperial Intelligence is a highly secretive agency, thus we have very little information about them, but we do have a revised plan for you."

"I'm listening, at the very least I can try. I have some contacts I can ask, but I don't know how much that will do for me there. So what's this plan of yours?"

"You probably won't believe it but… we've captured an Intelligence agent. He calls himself Watcher… Nine? I think it was?"

Renos nodded in approval,

"Alright. What has he told us?"

"Well that's the problem… he's been trained to resist interrogation so he didn't talk. But with our recent breakthroughs in technology, we're going to have you become this Watcher."

The hooded contact spoke in a voice that betrayed no emotion. Renos' eyes widened at the news, then narrowed in curiosity,

"And what does that entail?"

"We're going to temporarily alter your appearance for this operation. But because it's still a prototype there may be… some side effects."

Renos thought for a bit, then sighs in resignation,

"Alright. Not I like I need my face the way it is in particular. But as long as it's temporary, I think I can handle it."

"I assure you that you will need it. Imperial higher-ups are quite intelligent and will not hesitate to kill you."

"So I've experienced. The sith are indeed strong, and able to see through my disguises with ease." Replies Renos, thinking back to the Mandela Quann, who was able to do just that

"The sith very rarely associate themselves with the Intelligence division, in fact, many believe they are afraid of them. Either way, you may interrogate the Watcher before surgery- I mean, your transformation."

"Fair enough, so where is he being held? Also, I would appreciate the assistance of one gifted in mental manipulation, since I am… not."

"He's outside the temple in a detention facility. I will take you there."

The contact walked out the door, not waiting for Renos to catch up. Renos followed him out the temple, where the contact had a speeder waiting for them. The speeder lifted into the air, carrying them both to an area near the spaceport.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

As the two flew through the air, Renos continued the conversation,

"So how did we catch this guy? I might as well start building a cover story now."

The contact, who somehow kept his hood up even through the rush of wind, paused before responding,

"We found him scouting on of our outposts in the outer rim, near the Imperial-Republic border."

The contact landed the speeder outside a detention facility, and a Republic trooper opened the door. The interior was like no Republic facility Renos had ever seen before, but followed him anyway.

"Well, if he was able to be caught, this should prove interesting. Does he have a name?"

"Not that we were able to discern."

'Great. So I have to pretend to be this guy when I don't even know his real name."

"I'm quite certain they won't communicate through real names there."

"Maybe, well let's meet the guy."

The two walked deeper into the facility, and the décor became darker and darker until it was completely black. The armour of the guards changed as well; while it had been standard Republic troopers up until that point, they now wore plain black armour with a strange insignia. Each one eyeballed the pair as they walked past. The change was not lost on Renos,

"Who are these guards? They don't look very standard. Are they black-ops?"

"That isn't something you need to know." The contact responded dismissively. They reached a door and the contact spoke again,

"Ready?

"Yes."

They entered the room, inside it was plain grey, with a metal table and two chairs. The captured Watcher sat bound to the chair across from Renos and his contact. The Watcher had very dark skin and was wearing a standard Imperial intelligence uniform. He was bruised and bloodied, his uniform torn. Upon seeing Renos and the contact enter, he grinned, flashing white teeth, stained with blood. Renos put a smile on his face and gave a friendly wave,

"Hey, how are you doing?"

The Watcher's face changed to one of surprise, then he replied,

"Well, that's new."

The contact closed the door behind him and locked it. Renos looked the Watcher up and down, then took a seat opposite him,

"Well, I can see that you've clearly been hurt more than what is reasonable. And I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk. Maybe even get you out of here."

"Well guess what I have to say to you?" replied the Watcher with a poisonous tone. Renos kept his friendly smile,

"Wait, don't tell me. Something along the lines of 'Go to hell you piece of Bantha fodder,' that about right?"

The Watcher was once again caught off-guard but tried to hide it, unsuccessfully

"N-no,"

Renos changed his tone to a sympathetic one,

"Listen, I understand completely that you hate us and everything we stand for. That's completely normal. When you think about how many people there are in this galaxy, there's no way a single system of government can appease everyone. And we just happened to fall on opposite sides of it. If I may ask, what about the Empire made you loyal to them?"

"I'm not going to answer your irrelevant questions Republic scum." The Watcher spat at Renos, missed, and it hit the floor beside him,

"Then what would you be asking me, if our positions were reversed? What sort of information do you think I'm after?"

"I'd ask actually relevant questions."

Renos sighed,

"OK, fine. Who are you, what information were you looking for when you were caught, what are the Empire's weaknesses, are you planning to build any superweapons. Any of those relevant enough for you to answer?"

The Watcher chuckled,

"That's more like it! I'll answer one of those."

"Fine, then what information were you looking for when you were caught?"

"…Intelligence."

Renos rolled his eyes,

"Well duh, you're an Imperial Intelligence operative. It is literally in your job title. Just because I am a part of the Republic, doesn't mean we're all stupid."

"I beg to differ, look at your intelligence agency, the SIS is pitiful."

Renos rubbed his brow,

"Yeah, I know. It's a literal miracle we were able to find you, let alone capture you alive. My point is, you're a smart guy, so I think it's obvious you know you're not getting out of here alive unless you give us something in return. I don't have the authority to release you, but can put in a good word for you. Let me ask you this, do you have a family? Maybe a parent or two you're helping to provide for? Some kind of life you're going to return to after this war is over?"

Renos watched him carefully for any sort of emotional reaction, the Watcher flinched slightly at the mention of a parent. Before Renos could say anything else, his contact spoke up,

"We're running out of time, let's get you ready."

"Fine, good day mister Watcher, I hope you enjoy what time you have remaining."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

As Renos and his contact left the room, Renos spoke to him,

"Did you get any information out of his surface thoughts? Anything useful?"

"Honestly we need nothing from him. Return to Imperial HQ and await your orders. Follow your CO's commands at all times and gain their trust. Simple enough?"

"Simple yes, but it always helps to have a foolproof alibi, especially if I'm replacing someone entirely. I need to know how they act and react. From what I could tell, he's a lot like most Imperials I've met; stuck up, snarky and generally thinking they're better than us," the contact stiffened slightly at Renos' comment, "Fortunately, this one seems to be the kind who doesn't speak much, which makes things a little easier for me, since no-one should be expecting me to talk all that much. However, there is still this problem."

Renos waved his mechanical hand in front of his face. The contact looked at it as they walked.

"Easy fix, we'll get you an upgrade. This way."

"Upgrade? I like the sound of that. Will it let me keep the modifications I've already got?" asked Renos

"That depends."

They approached another door and entered. Inside was an operating theatre with robotic surgical tools mounted on the ceiling. Behind the operating table was a curtain.

"I assume you want me here." said Renos as he laid down on the table.

"Well this hand has all the original features I had but with improvements. Still looking for some lightsaber-resistant material to use though."

"Well I can assure you this will be much better. We'll be giving you a shot to put you under."

"Go ahead, but can you tell me what specs my new hand will have first?"

"Well first off it's going to look and feel like a real arm, with multiple built-in gadgets and a communication device."

"Ooh, what gadgets? Also, sorry in advance for the unorthodox neuro-microcurcuitry; I had to make it with one hand from spare parts."

"Look, I don't know the full details but it should have everything you'll need for this operation."

From behind the curtain two doctors in black surgical gear stepped out. Renos put his right hand over his left wrist and began to unlock the internal locking mechanism, disconnecting the neuro-circuits. He plucks it off the mount and puts it aside.

"That should make it easier. See you on the other side."

The doctors approach, one with the shot of anaesthetic, the other with a laser drill. He pressed the button a couple of times jokingly. Renos was not impressed,

"I lost this hand from a pirate sword. Don't screw around with me please."

The other doctor injected the shot into Renos' arm, and he fell into unconsciousness quickly.

When Renos awoke, he had a new face, new skin tone, hair, eye, body structure and his left hand looked normal again. His head also hurt horribly,

"Urgh, I feel like there are geonosians making a nest in my head."

He sits up and gives his new arm a test, the dermal covering reacted realistically, artificial muscles tensed with his motions. He gave a few experimental commands to the various gadgets within, finding a grappling hook mechanism in the palm and a flamethrower in the underside of the wrist in addition to the communications device. A mirror was waiting on the bench next to him, he picked it up and ran his hand over his face. He looked almost identical to Watcher Nine.

"I look like an asshole. This is going to suck, but, a mission's a mission."

The contact walked in,

"Oh good, you're awake."

"Yep, so what's next?"

"You will be outfitted with his uniform and equipment. And you can keep the hand by the way."

"Sweet."

Renos takes the uniform and changes behind the screen. The contact picks up the comb and perfume that were found with the Watcher,

"I almost admire this agent; he has style."

Renos walks out from behind the curtain, the transformation complete,

"Republic scum. You are what is wrong with this galaxy. The Empire will bring peace and stability better than your pathetic Jedi ever could." Renos said with a scornful snarl, which he drops,

"How was that?"

The contact clapped enthusiastically, "Bravo, great performance. This should work well."

"I hope so, since I assume extraction will be a problem here, I need to be convincing."

"Well yes, we can't just fly a gunship through the Citadel to pick you up."

Renos smiled,

"Well you could try, with me on the inside it's not impossible. So how am I to get there in the first place?"

"He has a ship parked outside, you'll be using that. You'll just fly straight in, simple as that."

"Fair enough. Then unless there's something else, I'd better get going."

"Nothing else. Good luck."

"Thanks, Oh wait! My lightsabers. I can't very much take those with me. Would you mind taking care of them while I'm gone?"

Renos indicates his two lightsabers which were on the bench,

"Of course, off you go,"

Renos left the room and headed outside,

"And I think we'll be seeing each other soon enough…"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Renos boarded the Imperial ship. It wasn't anything flashy, mostly function opposed to form, but it had a small profile for stealth. The navcomputer already had his destination marked, so he left Coruscant and fired up the hyperdrive towards Imperial space.  
The journey itself was long and tedious. Renos spent the journey going over the intelligence his Imperial contacts were able to provide of the Citadel, his destination. He arrived at Dromund Kaas, the Imperial capital of the Empire, and dropped out of hyperspace.

"Oh boy, here we go." He said to himself

He opened a comm channel to the planetary defence blockade

"This is Watcher Nine, requesting permission to land."

A _Harrower-_ class dreadnought cast a shadow above his small ship. Renos pulled his ship to a stop to await for a response. Their guns were trained on the smaller vessel. Renos gulped

"Oh crap."

He reopened the channel to the _Harrower_ -class above him and put on his best snarky Imperial impression,

"Is there a reason you have your guns trained on me? An intelligence operative? I have a mission to report and no time for your nonsense."

The ships surrounding him made no obvious movements and refused any communications. After a few moments of deafening silence, the comm indicated an incoming message, which Renos calmly accepted.

"Yes?"

A feminine voice responded,

"Identify yourself."

"Watcher Nine, Imperial Intelligence operative."

The voice was silent for a few seconds,

"What is your security code?"

 _"Karabast,"_ thought Renos, _"we didn't get that did we? Uhh…"_

"831 dash 6 beta." Renos said with feigned confidence,

"That is incorr-" the voice began to reply, but was interrupted by another voice that Renos couldn't make out. The first voice continued,

"Please make your way to the Citadel, Watcher Nine."

Renos gave an exasperated sigh,

"Thank you."

"You are welcome." The voice cut the channel and the gun batteries powered down.

Renos took the ship to the designated landing area. During the descent, he goes over his mental list of Imperial contacts. Five existed on Dromund Kaas, but only three were currently active there, and he hadn't heard from one in a long time, he imagined she was either dead or discovered, or both. The other two he had just been in contact with, so he was probably going to rely on them a fair amount.  
Once he had landed and entered the Citadel, the first thing that surprised him was just how busy it was. There were Imperials milling about everywhere. The whole building emanated power and supremacy, its tall vaulted ceilings made from a black and shiny material reflected the stark white lighting.  
Around him were various people who had sworn themselves to the Empire, from those who had enlisted, to bounty hunters, and even some sith in the distance, if their clothing was anything to go by. He mentally consulted the map he had memorised and made his way to the Intelligence division. Once there, a trooper with a weapon in hand stopped Renos from entering,

"Identification please."

Renos hands him the ID chip they had recovered from Watcher Nine, thankful they had at least managed that. The trooper accepts it and holds up a scanner at head height,

"Prepare for retinal scanning,"

Renos, without hesitation, complies. The scan comes back positive, and the trooper waves him through. Renos entered the Intelligence division, and attempted to maintain a low profile. He kept his ears open for any conversation that might provide him with intel, but most of those there were working at terminals. As Renos wandered the workstations, a chiss with combed black hair approached him. The chiss wore a highly decorated white uniform.

"Watcher Nine," the chiss greeted Renos

"Sir, I'll have my full report ready soon." Replied Renos, bowing his head slightly

"Huh, understood. Report to my office in ten." The chiss walked away, and Renos noted the direction. Once the chiss had left, he went to find an inconspicuous corner to work in. He did so, and sat down at the workstation. He tried to insert his thumb into the scomp link port, then remembered that was on his old hand.

"Oh right, new hand." he muttered to himself, as he began to type.

He quickly compiled the false report, planting misinformation for the Empire and giving the Republic a much-needed reprieve. While there, he installed a data harvesting worm into the system and opened a back door he could access personally. A Minder at his workstation looked over,

"Hey, Watcher Nine right?"

Renos replied curtly and without looking,

"Yes."

"What happened? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been on assignment. Gathering intelligence."

"Uh-huh… OK."

Renos ignores the Minder and continues his work for another few minutes, then gets up and makes his way to the chiss' office. The office was ray shielded, but it dropped as he approached. He knocks on the door and awaits a response. The door opened, revealing the chiss from earlier at his desk.

"Do come in Watcher Nine."

Renos does so and stands at attention. The chiss spoke first,

"Before we begin anything, your report?"

Renos hands him a data chip with the falsified report on it. The chiss took it and put it aside.

"Did you want me for anything else sir?" asks Renos

"Hmm… yes."

"I'm ready for my next assignment then."

"Indeed you are, but lucky you. you will be receiving your assignment from your new boss, the Head of Imperial Intelligence Operations. I have no blasted idea why you were reassigned to him, but the decision is final."

"Very well. Where shall I find him to report?"

"Well that's the thing; he'll contact you. But be careful around him; he's very shady and equally unforgiving. That will be all."

"Sir."

Renos salutes, then leaves the office. The chiss speaks to the air,

"Huh, when has Watcher Nine ever used formalities?"

Renos mentally curses himself and sticks his head back inside before the door closes,

"Just this once as a goodbye. Don't get used to it."

The chiss laughed a little,

"Typical, goodbye Watcher Nine, I'll miss you. Now get out of my blasted office." he said jokingly and closed his door, forcing Renos to remove his head. Renos chuckled quietly to himself and made his way to the barracks to kill time.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

As Renos sat in the barracks eating, his comm went off. He finishes chewing and answers,

"Watcher Nine, who is this?"

The voice that replied was smooth and silky, with an uncommon accent,

"This is your brand new commanding officer."

"Ah, am I to assume you are the Head of Imperial Intelligence Operations?"

"Yes I am, and in light of your reassignment under me, I believe a promotion is in order."

Renos smiled, this was going perfectly so far,

"I am hardly in any positon to argue, I gladly accept. What should I expect from such a promotion?"

"More operations, permissions, and clearance. You are to become a Cipher."

"Excellent. What is my new designation then?"

"Your new designation, is Cipher Six. You will only take orders from me, and the Minister of Intelligence, whom you will most likely never come into contact with."

"Understood. Do you have new orders for me?"

"Yes I do, please report to this location."

Renos received the location,

"On my way."

He closed the channel and consulted the map he memorised; this wasn't on it, so he checked the floor map next to the elevator banks. He found the floor, and rode an elevator up to it. When the doors opened, the only thing in front of him was a walkway, surrounded by a black gaping chasm. The lighting was even more dismal than before, and he took care not to misstep. As he made his way forward, lights began to illuminate the walkway. At the end of it, two guards stood at attention, flanked by a series of stone pillars going across the back wall.  
Renos walked up to them and held out his ID chip,

"Cipher Six reporting to the Head of Imperial Intelligence Operations. I am expected."

The guards checked his ID chip and opened the door. Renos walked through the hallways to the correct office and knocked on the door. It opened without a word. Inside, it was brightly lit. a smooth steel desk sat in the middle of the room, and several strange artefacts floated above pedestals around the room. A cabinet stood to one side, and the desk had a chair on either side, but beyond that the room was empty, including its owner. Renos sat in the chair in front of the desk and waited. He didn't have to wait long; the Head of Imperial Intelligence Operations walked in with his boots making a loud noise against the hard floor.

"Apologies for my lateness, I had to deal with an unruly prisoner."

Renos noticed some specks of blood clinging to the man's otherwise pristine grey uniform,

"No apology necessary; I was not waiting long."

The man, a human by the look of him, went over to the cabinet and retrieved a cleaning cloth and dabbed his sleeves to remove the blood and wiped his hands clean afterwards. Renos could also see a set of high quality personal hygiene items inside, a blaster pistol, some snacks and bottles of champagne.

"That's an impressive blaster. Is it custom?" asked Renos

"No, it's standard issue, for those of my position. But there is something there that is special." The man stepped back for Renos to take a closer look at the items. Renos got up and walked closer. The man smelled of high-end cologne. Renos inspected the items within, and found a small stick as long as a blaster. it looked particularly odd to Renos.

"Choose that?" the man asked,

"My findings indicate this to be the most out of place object here. I might as well start my investigation there." Replied Renos formally

"Drop the Intelligence talk Cipher. Don't think of me as your boss just as your… cool co-worker. Anyhow, that is a special object. Would you like to know its history?"

"The context of information is almost as important as the information itself." Replied Renos

The man picked up the stick,

"This is ancient to my people, the Jackels. In our religion, it was wielded by the great protector Orion, who served our people for millennia. I personally think religion is all foolish jargon to keep the population in line, but this weapon is still worthwhile. Would you like to see it in action?"

"Please."

The man activated the staff, which extended to a meter's length. At the end a sharp blade protruded. Electricity arced along it, accompanied by an electric humming noise.

"Impressive, is it not?"

Renos was truly impressed, having always being interested in new tech,

"Indeed. It seems quite formidable in the right hands. Is it a variable-current weapon? Or is it always set to kill?"

"It can be used in many ways, the current can be deactivated, or the blade retracted. It took me a long time to master this weapon; it is difficult to handle."

Renos nodded,

"Very impressive. Not to belittle your race's culture, but was there something you needed to seem me in person for?"

"Mm, yes. I have a task for you that is far too important to discuss over a comm. Also I wanted to get proper introductions in order."

"That's fair. Well now that we're acquainted, what is this task?"

The man walked behind his desk and sat in the large, black comfortable chair.

"Do sit, and please, refer to me as Overseer."

Renos sat with a serious look on his face,

"This must be important if you couldn't tell me over a comm."

"Oh, oho… you have no idea. Now, to first show me that you can be trusted, I'd like to play a small game."

"I enjoy games as much as the next person. Let's play."

Renos leant back in his chair. The Overseer drew an odd looking blaster pistol and put it on the table. It appeared to have six separate chambers for the gas cartridges.  
Renos looked it over intently,

"It's a blaster." he finally stated

"Yes, but it's a special one." The Overseer opened the blaster, revealing the current empty cartridge slot.

"It's empty, correct." He asked

"As far as I can see."

"Now…" the Overseer pulled four small cartridges out of his desk drawer and proceeded to load the blaster.

"Yes?"

"Here are the rules of the game." The Overseer spun the circular section of the blaster with a repetitive clicking noise,

"If you allow me to kill myself, you take my place. My guards will not execute you or anything of the sort. It will simply be labelled as suicide, and that's believable because I am known for whining constantly about this job. But if you call my shots correctly, then I know I can trust you to be my loyal operative. Either way it's a win for you right?"

He clipped a round into place,

"I choose your shots? What do you mean?"

"I'll show you the round, you tell me if I shoot or skip."

Renos tilted his head back,

"Then you are already trusting me not to let you die. Even if it is labelled as suicide, the circumstances surrounding your death would be extremely suspect. If this were discovered, or even hinted at, I would have a target painted on my back for the rest of my career because it would give the impression succession meant killing off your superiors. And besides, you just gave me a promotion; I would at least want an adjustment period before it happens again. Very well, I'll play your game."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Smart man," said the Overseer as he proceeded to show Renos the round. It was currently empty.

"Pass or shoot?" he asked

"Shoot." Replied Renos

The Overseer clipped it in and put the barrel to his head and, without hesitation, fired. The blaster clicked and nothing happened. Renos watched with a blank expression. The Overseer repeated the process, this time showing a loaded chamber,

"Pass."

The Overseer didn't put it to his head this time,

"You know, I'm going to save you the games because honestly, I know you are loyal. 'How do you know this?' you may ask. Well that…"

The Overseer fired past Renos' head suddenly, impacting on the mirror behind Renos. Renos flinched at the discharge, then quickly regained his composure.

"Do you test all new Ciphers this way? Or have I warranted special treatment?"

The Overseer put the blaster back down on his desk,

"Hmm, only certain ones. You are one of five I've tested. Two weren't very… intelligent, but they were power hungry. So they attempted to indirectly kill me. So in return I _directly_ killed them, in that same seat you sit in. Well now that I know I can trust you, let me tell you your mission."

"Thank you for your trust in me. I intend to serve you and the Empire loyally even after we win this war." Lied Renos

"Now, I'm going to be straightforward, you are going to assist me in illegally assassinating a corrupt individual within the Empire. He covers his tracks well, so I have no solid evidence to bring him to trial, but this is for the good of the Empire."

"Amputating before the infection spreads."

The Overseer nodded in agreement,

"Quite. He has many incriminating charges that he has hidden away. It might take a long time to get close enough to kill him, as we must also take out his assistants, successors and so on."

"Am I to do this alone? Or will this be a team effort?"

"You will be a part of a group of individuals, the other Ciphers who had passed my game. Now, the ultimate target here, is this man."

The Overseer pulled up a hologram of a man with balding hair and a stern, hard face. He wore highly decorated clothes,

"Joseph Chulk, Minister of Imperial Intelligence."

Renos blinked in surprise,

"I've heard of him. He was once a highly-revered officer before he earned his minister position. And you say he's been using his influence to build his own power base?"

"Yes, I have evidence that isn't enough to charge him with but enough to reveal his intentions. I can't go public with it, or our entire division could be killed."

"Understandable. His position is a lofty one, and even someone of your stature would have trouble taking him down. Alright, how shall I proceed?"

"You will start by assassinating one of his intelligence officers who is part of his inner circle. He is currently 'On official business' on Arazim, but Joseph just gave him a blasted vacation."

Renos smiled slightly,

"I've always wanted to go to Arazim. Beautiful this time of year. So am I just to kill him or are we trying to frame someone else? We could conceivably make it look like the Republic did it, although we both know their intelligence network is a joke."

"Just go kill him, I'll handle the rest and make sure you have support. Hell, if you do well enough, I'll give you a vacation there. Anyways, once this is all over, I will be appointed as the new Minister, and you are to succeed me as the Head of Operations."

Renos smiled a little more, this would provide him with huge amounts of intelligence he could send to the Jedi for the war effort. The Overseer got up, disrupting his thoughts,

"Now, enough about business, let's have a drink." he walked over to the metal cabinet and retrieved a bottle of liquid and two glasses, putting them on the desk. He poured two drinks, the alcoholic liquid fizzed and bubbled.

"Care for a toast Overseer?" Renos lifted his glass

"You know, I never really have any time for pleasure and luxury, or even sleep sometimes. That's why I've outfitted this office with snacks and comfortable chairs." He lifted his glass, "What shall we toast to?"

"To long and successful careers, future Minister."

The Overseer smiled back,

"To long and successful careers, future Overseer."

They clinked their glasses and downed their drinks.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Renos was given instructions to report to hangar bay two; he was to receive a special new ship for his mission. Once there, he consulted a requisitions officer to find it. When he did, he was not prepared for what he saw.  
It was an X-70B prototype covert operations craft. It was a ship of medium size, with sweeping curves and sharp edges. The profile reminded Renos of a traditional double edge sword blade. It was painted a shiny grey, almost silver, like those of the naboo people. Blue lights emanated from spots around the hull, and weapons bristled from the edges of the wings. Everything about it screamed class and power. Renos grinned like a madman and walked closer. As he did so, the boarding ramp descended, and plumes of smoke billowed out of the dimly-lit interior.

"Ooh, dramatic effect."

He boarded, lights coming on in response to his presence, and headed to the cockpit, firing up the engines. Air control gave him clearance to take off, and he did so. He left the atmosphere quickly, the brand-new engines quick and responsive. He plotted coordinates to Arazim, and engaged the hyperdrive. He sat back in thought, thinking out loud,

"All ships need a name. Let me think… it's a stealth ship, how about, the _Façade._ "

Suddenly, a monotone male robotic voice spoke from behind him,

"Hello and welcome aboard."

Renos jumped at the noise, not expecting it. He looked around expectantly, but found no-one else around,

"Uh, hello. Where are you?"

The voice reappeared, this time in front of him,

"I am in this ship, I am the XY-Type 31 Intelligence Unit. I will be assisting you while you use this ship."

Renos relaxed slightly, and then grew curious,

"Thank you, do you have a shorter designation? XY-Type 31 Intelligence Unit is a little long."

"I have no shorter designation, but you may name me and customise other characteristics as you see fit. Including voice, colour of hologram, gender and personality." A red holographic orb appeared on one of the screens. Renos, fascinated, leaned in close and inspected the image of the orb, which pulsated slightly as if made of a moving fluid.

"Well, until I can think of a name, can you give me your specs? Are you sentient? And I'd also like to know whom are you loyal to above anyone else?"

The screen lit up with a list of the AI's specs.

"I am loyal to my designated supervisor Cipher Six. And I am sentient."

"Excellent. As for your name… how about we go with, RoXY. And change to a female avatar if you please."

The AI groaned slightly,

"Just so you know, I don't enjoy this… and don't expect me to do anything weird." The red orb changed to a deep purple one, and the voice changed to that of a female.

"Do you have full control over this ship then?"

"I do, unless my permissions are limited by my supervisor." The AI now spoke in a smooth female voice

Renos nodded, thinking,

"So, if you're loyal to me, then, hypothetically, if I was to be seen betraying the Empire, you would still follow my orders?"

"Yes, I am programmed to obey you at all times. Would you like to select my personality? Or shall I select at random?"

"Randomise to your heart's content. And if you're uncomfortable with a female avatar, then come up with your own persona. I am in no mood to enforce any limitations on how a sentient being is to live their life. Be your own AI."

"Please, you're too kind. Randomising personality selections…"

The screen in front of Renos blurred with the possible combinations like a slot machine, until it stopped at "sarcastic," "rebellious" and "selfless."

"Very well then. Nice to meet you RoXY." Said Renos

"Likewise, Cipher Six." Responded RoXY


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Renos was awoken later from his nap en route to Arazim.

"Wake uuuuup." Cooed RoXY's synthesised voice through the ship's speakers.

Renos blinked and stared at the ceiling,

"I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship," he mutters under his breath with a smile. He got up of the bed and left his cabin for the cockpit,

"Hey RoXY, I noticed you- or, the ship? Is equipped with a turret. Is it manual or are you capable of operating it?"

"It has both functionalities. This is a multi-billion credit ship given only to a select few people."

Renos got up and held his head,

"Did I really wake up or is this all a dream? I get back from a mission in Republic space alive, get promoted as soon as I return, and get given a fantastic ship and an even greater Ai to assist me, all so I can go kill some asshole on the other end of the galaxy."

He shakes his head slowly,

"This should be interesting." He muses. He stares out the cockpit window at the planet Arazim. On one side, the strip-mining was incredibly evident even from space. The other side was known for its fabulous beaches and high-class resorts.

"RoXY, please bring up the target bio and land us at the resort he's staying at. A ship as fine as yourself should blend right in with all the other expensive high-class vessels."

"Aww, thank you for the compliment. I will store it in my memory files under 'Nice Cipher.' Bringing up the bio now."

The holotable in the main hall section lit up with a three-quarter image of a man.

"Thank you, so whom are we killing today?"

"Limar Rory, Intelligence Officer. He is a highly decorated man who has constantly gone on record stating he is not corrupt nor would he commit traitorous acts against the Empire. I, however, believe he is lying."

Renos frowned,

"The mere fact that he is at a resort so high above his pay grade while we are at the height of war is enough to call such a reputation into question isn't it? That said, he is working for Minister Chulk, who is not working for the Empire in as much as he is working for himself."

The _Facade_ toughed down on the landing pad and Renos gathered his gear and disembarked. He had an earpiece in to let him communicate with RoXY.

"I hope we don't need a booking here. If things get too problematic, I want you to take off and circle this building. It's likely my escape won't be through the front door."

RoXY responded through the earpiece,

"Actually, I have already infiltrated their systems and have a full profile of the resort and its personnel. There is a guard on the top of this building with a sniper rifle. If only I knew someone who could possibly steal it…"

"Good plan. As a backup, I'll organise some explosives."

Renos entered the building, but was largely ignored by reception staff. He made his way up the stairs towards the top floor. He reached the top floor, and found it covered with guards, all armed.

 _"These must be the VIP suites."_ He thought.

One of the guards glanced over at Renos. He waved casually,

"Hello, I'm just heading up to get some fresh air. This climate doesn't seem to agree with me all too well."

The same security guard raised an eyebrow,

"Uhh…"

Renos stopped in front of him.

"What, am I not allowed up there?"

The guard shook his head and ignored him.

"Thanks." Said Renos as he continued on his way. When he reached the final stairwell, another guard blocked his path.

"No entry." Said the guard,

"Really? Why?"

"No, entry." The guard repeated, forcefully.

Renos looked around. Seeing no-one else around, he sucker punched the guard with his mechanical hand and put him in a sleeper hold. The guard attempted to resist, but Renos' grip was too strong, and he soon fell unconscious. Renos picked up the guard's communicator and headed to the rooftop.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

When he exited to the rooftop, RoXY called out two guards before he saw them.

"Two armed guards on your left."

Renos rushed one of them, twisting the blaster out of his hands and kicked the other in the jaw. He flipped the first one onto his back and punched him in the chin, incapacitating him. The other brought his blaster round to fire but Renos grabbed the barrel with his left hand and squeezed the barrel shut.  
The guard stood hopeless as Renos swept his legs out from under him and slammed his head into the roof.

"Well that was easy enough. RoXY, where's the guard with a sniper rifle?"

"Cipher, duck!"

Renos did so, a blaster bolt flew over his head a split second later. He turned and saw the aforementioned guard on the other end of the roof. Renos ducked behind cover, advancing. Once close enough, he rolled out and put his left palm towards the guard,

"Get over here." he said, as his grappling hook shot out from his palm towards the bewildered guard. He attempted to doge, but the hook caught and wrapped around his arm anyway. Renos retracted the cable, dragging the guard toward him rapidly. He wrestled the rifle out of his hands and clubbed the last guard into submission.

"RoXY, can you find me one of the top-floor rooftops with a balcony that's currently unoccupied?"

"Of course, two metres to your right below you."

"Thank you."

Renos jumped down and scanned the plaza below him with the sniper rifle's scope. There were too many guards present to take the shot. He pulled out the communicator he took from the guard earlier and spoke into it,

"We've got a situation on the rooftop, requesting backup now!"

Renos watched as a good portion of the guards below hurriedly made their way inside the building. He pressed himself against a wall and took aim while RoXY helped him identify the target.

"Man in blue clothes, sitting by the pool, two women next to him."

Renos slowed his breathing and concentrated,

 _"I take no pleasure in what I must do here."_ he thought to himself. He pulled the trigger, and a blaster bolt flew towards the plaza, piercing the man's heart and killing him. Only seconds later, guards burst out of the door to the roof and they fanned out, looking for any intruders after seeing their comrades unconscious. From below, screams emanated from the plaza.

"Shall I bring the ship around for a quick boarding?" asked RoXY in Renos' ear

"If you please, swing around low on my side with the boarding ramp down."

Renos opened the door to the suite and began to disassemble the rifle into a decorative art instalment. A noise indicated the _Façade_ was above the building. As it came around his side, he took a short run-up and with a Force-powered jump, leapt into the air and onto the boarding ramp, quickly scrambling up it out of the guard's sights, who then proceeded to fire upon the hull ineffectively.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome. Time to leave."

"Agreed." Replied RoXY through the ship's internal speakers, "Shall I contact the Overseer?"

"Yes. I think this mission is off to a good start."

"I very much agree; your skills are quite impressive compared to other Ciphers. And you have very nice manners too."

Renos smiled,

"Thank you. It never hurts to behave in a civilised manner, even while in combat. Quick and efficient, minimise pain."

"Wise words, contacting Alek- sorry, Overseer."

The holotable in the foyer made a dialling noise, and the Overseer's face materialised above it in blue light,

"Hello Overseer. I have good news."

The Overseer looked particularly glum in his comfortable chair,

"I could really use some, do tell."

"Limar Rory had a bad case of a sudden heart attack. Namely that I attacked it from 200 meters up."

"And did you deactivate the surveillance systems while you were there?"

"No, I avoided doing anything incriminating on camera instead."

"You fool! You realise that the Minister will have both our heads if he realises we are onto him!"

The Overseer paused for a second, then burst out laughing,

"I am joking. The help I spoke of earlier I had deal with that beforehand. Anyway, you've done well, so you go spend some time getting some rest, or socialising, or- you know what? Just do something for the time being."

"Can do. When can I expect the next target's info?"

"Later, I order you to take a break."

"Will do sir, have a nice day Overseer."

"Same to you Cipher."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

As the _Façade_ flew through hyperspace, RoXY's purple orb materialised on the holotable,

"Hey, would you like to know more about the Overseer?"

Renos looked up from his data tablet,

"Actually, yes. Kindly make a secure request for as much info as my clearance allows for all the senior operatives of the Imperial Intelligence network and transfer it to a disc. Then, please change our course to Lah'mu. I need to make a contact."

"On it," RoXY made a chirping noise, "Curious, all documents on the Overseer are missing. Of course all Intelligence officers have a file on them but… it looks as though he's gone out of his way to destroy any trace of his history. Though, there are rumours."

"Just tell me what you can. If there are any others connected to the Minister it would be good to know in advance."

"I will attempt to salvage as much data as I can."

RoXY did this and finished by copying it to a disc. Once they landed on Lah'mu, Renos took the disc and walked to the outskirts of a moisture farm. He knelt next to a vaporator and opened a panel, hiding the disc inside the cavity. He pushed a button on it, activating a low-band signal to indicate the dead drop had information.  
He walked up to the farm's owner, a neimoidian, and spoke with him, telling him, "Do not worry; the harvest will be good this year."  
The farmer nodded, indicating he understood the secret phrase to make sure the information was passed on.  
Renos walked back to the ship and took off.

"Well RoXY, we have time to kill and nowhere to be. Where would you like to go?"

"Hmm… space soothes me, shall we just roam and talk? I have dirty secrets to share."

"Let's hear it."

"The Overseer, his name is Alek [unknown]. His uncovered origins can be traced back to when he was a teenager. His father died and his fortune was split between him and his siblings. He received the most, being the favourite due to his skill. When he joined the Imperial Intelligence division, his siblings all died. Evidence proved it could have been murder, but Alek closed the case, labelling it as suicide. The bombing of Ryloth, the massacre of Mimban, the Jackel Genocide… he's been traced to every one of these events."

RoXY displayed a series of relevant images, each more gruesome than the last.

"Wherever he goes, great tragedy follows. Hmm, he seems a dangerous man to cross. I had better not fail him."

Renos went to the communications terminal and checked the Imperial requisitions database,

"No offence, but this ship does seem a little empty. What sort of improvements can we get through requisitions?"

"Anything you can think of really, the engineers who worked on the ship will provide whatever we need."

"That certainly leaves room for interpretation. I'll have to put some though into it, but I'm thinking an armoury and practise room on the starboard aft section, plenty of room there; a kitchenette in the port fore section and an engineer's workstation in the aft secion. That leaves the port fore section, starboard fore section and midship free for later."

Renos keyed the request to be done the next time they landed on Dromund Kaas and RoXY continued to describe the other high-ranking Imperial personnel's secrets.

A day later, they drifted through empty space. RoXY was powered down and the silence of space permeated the air as Renos inspected the specs for the ship and RoXY's code. The silence was shattered by an emergency transmission and a red light indicating such. Renos scrambled to answer it,

"This is Watcher- sorry, Cipher Six. Go ahead."

The display glitched and disappeared. A familiar voice spoke,

"Wow, nice act." It was Renos' contact for this mission.

Renos dropped the Imperial officer act,

"New promotion. Little hard to get used to. How did you get this channel?"

"Oh, so you're doubting the skill of the SIS?" the contact said incredulously, then spoke with an air of resignation, "Alright, we both know they're terrible. We had some techs in the Jedi Order patch me in."

"Even for the Jedi Oder, getting a newly-commissioned stealth ship's emergency contact channel is impressive. I assume you got the dead drop?"

"Yes I did. Great work by the way. Damn… massacring nearly his own entire race… This information is quite useful and we shall make good use of it. So, how are things?"

"Actually a lot better than I thought they'd be. As I said in the drop, the Overseer I work for suspects Minister Chulk of major corruption and embezzlement. He is planning a violent, if subtle, coup. I am to take his place if it succeeds, which would give us a significant advantage in this war. Also, I got this amazing ship. It's got an on-board AI who is programmed to be loyal to me alone. I've started going over the specs for both and they'll be ready for the next drop. Make sure it gets to the Jedi tech experts; the Empire's lightyears ahead of us in terms of technology."

"It's not that surprising; they spent centuries hiding in regions we haven't explore before, with resources fresh for the taking, while we dried up our own and had to fight amongst ourselves. Anyways, there's been a slight change in plans."

Renos leaned in,

"Go on."

"There isn't much time to explain, as our time is limited. We've uncovered a devastating operation headed by the Overseer, thus, you must kill Alek, the Overseer."

Renos sighed dramatically,

"Now you tell me; he literally had a gun to his head with me calling the shots. No disrespect to your plan, but it might leave a power vacuum that would make matters worse than they are. It would probably be a better idea for me to get as much information as I can to minimise the impact of such an operation, how much time to I have?"

"Not enough; only sixteen hours. He trusts you does he not? Any member of the Intelligence division that intelligent would set up a successor in advance. You will take his place, and because he's pointed a gun to his head on multiple occasions, no one will question his death if done properly."

"Very well. We could feasibly pin it on the Minister or one of his underlings."

"Well I leave that to you, but I suggest you play his suicidal 'game' and leave him with a hole in the middle of his head, cause of death: suicide. Now go, you must do this swift- maintain- just kill- Alek-" the transmission began cutting out before it stopped altogether.  
Renos sighed heavily,

"And here I thought I could develop a career out of this operation."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Renos got up from the holotable and walked over to the cockpit and plotted a course back to Dromund Kaas at full speed. The miniature holoprojector on the control panel lit up with the Overseer's face,

"Apologies if I cut your last transmission short, I hope it wasn't important."

"Not at all," said Renos, back in Imperial officer mode, "Merely a contact in the galactic core. They may have outlived their usefulness, I will need to deal with them later. Anyway, what is it, Overseer?"

"I need you in my office immediately."

"I'm already on my way. Estimated time to arrival is less than an hour. Sir, I must say, thank you for everything. This opportunity to serve under you is by far the best in my career."

"Why, thank _you_ for being such a wonderful agent. I believe your career will progress far and you'll make a great Overseer yourself. Anyway, I must speak with someone right now."

"Understood. I'll be there soon."

Renos closed the comm and went to check on RoXY. Her iconic purple orb appeared,

"I, heard, everything. Up to no good are we?"

"I thought you were out for routine maintenance? Anyway, I suppose I'd better come clean. I work for the Republic, I've been sent to infiltrate the Imperial Intelligence network and I really hope you're as loyal to me as your programming says you are."

"Indeed I am, and because I honestly _looooove_ you, I will be doing the best I can to help." RoXY giggled like a young girl

Renos exhaled in relief,

"I appreaciate that RoXY. If we make it through this, how would you like a more… dextrous housing?"

"Oh I would love that."

"Good, when we get back to Republic space, I'll build you something special. I have a certain… talent when it comes to technology."

The _Façade_ dropped back into realspace just outside the planetary defence grid. Renos kept the ship moving forward. No ships moved to intercept. When they landed, the maintenance crew came over to install his requested modifications.  
Renos stopped by the armoury to pick up a pulse grenade, then jogged lightly to the Overseer's office. There was triple the amount of guards since last time. The same one form before checked Renos' ID and ushered him inside.  
The Overseer sat at his desk, the mirror on the wall was still shattered.

"Please, sit." The Overseer gestured, and Renos sat.

"I came as fast as I could. What's happened? Is the Minister on to us?"

"Yes. That is why you are going to kill him today. He and his associates have all gathered at Korriban's space station and you are to kill them all at once."

Renos grinned like the homicidal maniac he was pretending to be,

"Excellent. I take it your preparations are in order for our, ahem, successions?"

The Overseer grinned similarly,

"Yes… but there is a slight cost with the deaths of him and his associates."

"What do you mean?"

You see, the station is constructed with a massive collection of substations, each with a population of up to 10,000. Joseph and his friends are on station omega… I think you can see where this is going."

"Hmm, yes. Maybe a catastrophic decompression leading to a failure of multiple subsystems?"

"Precisely. Say, if you come back alive, without a trace, I will give you the best god damn day of your life."

Renos got up to leave, then stopped himself,

"Sir, before I go, could I have another look at that pistol? I've never seen its like before and it bothers me not knowing about something."

The Overseer frowned, and his voice grew stern,

"We will do whatever the hell you want upon the death of Joseph and his associates. Currently, they are preparing a meeting to plan on killing everyone in Intelligence and torturing the survivors, as well as thinking of things to do to you and I once they capture us, and those things are worse than death. Now, will you please go and do as I've asked, or have you not yet grasped the gravity of the situation?"

"Apologies, I didn't realise they had such a plan in motion. However…"

Renos held his hand out in a pincer towards the Overseer's neck in a reluctant Force-choke, silencing him.  
With his free hand, he opened the cabinet and retrieved the Overseer's pistol, loudly exclaiming,

"Please Overseer, don't do this, the Empire needs you."

Quieter, Renos adds, "I am sorry."

He took aim and pulled the trigger.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The blaster did not fire. The Overseer, pinned to the wall by Renos' Force-choke, smirked and began to laugh, muffled by the pressure on his neck.  
Renos looked over the gun, and found it was empty of rounds.

"M-may… you let me… down…"

"No."

Renos went over to the cabinet to search for ammo.

"W-what would I be able to do?"

"Scream for help, pull a gun, and so on. The Minister very nicely asked my master to discard of any competition once he caught wind of your snooping."

The cabinet was bereft of blaster ammo, Renos swore quietly.

"I… would like… to give… several explanations… before my death…"

Renos let the Force-choke down slightly but still held him in place,

"Fine, I'm listening."

The Overseer inhaled loudly,

"So… how are you?" he said, wheezing slightly

"Honestly? A little frustrated. I was expecting you to keep some ammo in here. I was supposed to make it look like suicide, since me taking a blaster in would look suspicious. And you?"

"Great, honestly. So, wanna tell me what's going on?"

"As I said, the Minister found out about you poking around in his business, and went to my master, who owes him a favour. My master is a busy man though, so he told me to look into it. so, here I am, tying up a loose thread. Now it's your turn for exposition."

"Well, in a nutshell… you've been bantha fodder since the beginning, including now."

Renos sneered and fired his grapple hook straight into the bridge of the Overseer's nose at point blank range, intending to kill him regardless.  
He fired, but his hand sparked and the grapple hook retracted as soon as it fired, causing no damage. The Overseer's face darkened,

"Mr Renos… I would advise against any action of that sort during your arrest."

"Are your freaking kidding me?" yelled Renos at his hand, then turned back to the Overseer

"Fine. What do you want?"

The guards from outside all entered, blasters pointed at him.

"I assure you, everything will be explained shortly."

Renos' hand sent an electric shock through his body, and cause him to release the Overseer from the Force-choke. The Overseer sucked air into his lungs and coughed.  
Renos growled and pulled out the pulse grenade from before under his body and triggered it, throwing it towards the guards while jumping the other way. The EMP went off and shut down all the electronic systems in the room, causing the lights to go out. There was a silence, followed by a quiet humming.  
Renos used the cover of darkness to skirt around the guards without being detected and ran out the corridor towards the elevator, the only source of light to escape the blast radius.  
Renos dove into it and closed the doors.

"Why can I never seem to maintain a cover?" he mused. He pushed a button to descend to the main hangar area, but the elevator did not move,

"Of course not."

He reached out with mechu-deru and began to override the elevator's brakes, but a knocking noise interrupted him,

"First warning. Open up."

"Go away, I'm busy." Replied Renos. He worked faster and released the emergency lock, sending the elevator straight down. He scrambled to the top, opened the maintenance hatch and exited, jumping to the nearest floor as the elevator crashed with a horrible sound at the bottom of the shaft far below.  
When he got back up, a team of security forces stared at him, blasters raised,

"Hey guys, I think the elevator needs maintenance."

One, the captain, spoke,

"EMP disables in three… two… one…"

Renos could feel his mechanical fingers move again, and a man at the back pushed a button on a datapad, and Renos' hand sent more electrical current through his body, sending him to the floor as he writhed in pain,

"Aaaarrgh!"

Renos tried to focus, tried to deactivate the electrical feedback, but instead worked to disable any receivers sending such a command to his hand. He did not have enough time as he slipped into unconsciousness. A man walked over to him and looked down at him,

"Alright, pick him up. We have a long ride."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Renos awoke groggily, his hands were bound to a metal chair he sat on. He was sitting in a plain white room.  
He sighed loudly and spoke to the empty room.

"Aright, let's just get this over with. What do you want from me and do I get to live if I tell you?"

There was no response, no one in the room, just him and the chair.

"Hm, OK then."

Renos began to work on his hand and finish disabling any receivers while whistling a song to himself. A man walked in wearing a plain black surgical uniform with a data pad.  
Renos finished his modification and stared at the man,

"You look familiar, have we met?"

The man looked at him and back at the data pad.

"Are you allowed to talk to me? Or are you the torturer? No, the Overseer would want to do that himself. So what does that make you?"

Renos gave an experimental tug at his bonds, but they were too tight. The man finally spoke,

"Physical check-up. After all, you have just undergone surgery."

"Wait, what? Surgery? Please explain."

"You were seriously wounded, the Overseer asked for your surgery. He sure does care about you, any idea why?"

"I honestly have no idea. I was expecting him to torture me, he seems to think I'm some kind of traitor. What kind of wounds are we talking here?"

"Well, the electrical shock damaged your nerves and made your hand explode, which sent shards of metal into your arm. But your hand has been repaired and the shards removed from your arm. After that was the reconstructive surgery, at the Overseer's orders."

"So you removed the shards and repaired my hand? Thanks, but why am I still restrained then?"

"Precautions, after all, you did just attempt to murder him."

"Well yeah. Maybe just a little bit. So what happens now?"

"Your check-up."

The doctor undid his bonds and performed a series of tests. Once he confirmed no lasting damage had been done to Renos, he left and the Overseer entered.

"Hi boss. How're you doing?" asked Renos congenially

The Overseer did not respond with words, but sucker punched him in the gut without a word. He sighed,

"Sorry, just needed to let that out."

Renos bent over and coughed, slightly winded,

"No, it's fine. I deserved that. At least it wasn't a knife."

"So, sit wile I explain everything to you."

Renos sits down while the Overseer pushes a concealed button, making a holoprojector rise out of the floor. He begins to speak as though Renos was insignificant,

"I know, and knew, everything. At every point, every moment."

Renos scoffed,

"What, are you some kind of god? And if so, what do you want with a humble mortal such as myself?"

The Overseer laughed, then stopped as quickly as he started,

"You could say that."

The lights dimmed as the projector lit up. Renos leant back in his chair,

"So let me guess: you're going to have me watch as the Empire carries out a devastating operation against the Republic to break my morale, thus forcing me to spill my guts before you kill me. That sound about right?"

The Overseer smiled,

"No no no, not at all. I'm going to tell you, and show you, a story."

"Then go ahead."

Two soldiers entered the room and stood by the door. The holoprojector showed an image of Renos and his contact at the Jedi Temple.

"Renos Turro, Jedi Sentinel and Investigator, often used for tasks such as the one he took place in several hours ago."

"Oh boy, it's like an interview. Can I retcon any of this before we publish?" said Renos drily

"Oh shut up." The image changed to a close up of the contact,

"Renos, and his trustworthy wisecracking ally, or contact."

"Let me guess, one of yours?"

"Aww, how did you know? Would you like to see who it is?"

"Sure. I figured it out the moment my hand turned on me. He never gave a name, dissuaded me from interrogating Watcher Nine further, kept his hood up at all times and I'm thinking this was your idea from the very start. The Republic wouldn't have this kind of dermal covering and tech available on the open market, and finally, the location was decidedly un-Republic like. So by all means, show me whomever it was who so artfully tricked me."

"Oh, I'm surprised you have not figured it out yet. Well, I am that good after all."

It changed to a picture of the Overseer wearing the contact's cloak

"Surprised, no?"

"No. You were my second guess. I initially suspected you weren't the type to get involved with this sort of grunt work. As I said the first time we met, just because I'm from the Republic, doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot, just a partial one. Like, 35% idiot maybe, if this is anything to go by."

"I am not like other officers. I don't mind getting my hands dirty when needed."

"Revealing yourself to me doesn't really accomplish anything does it? You Imperials, you love to gloat. At least the sith have the power to back up their bravado. You're just a man, a cold-hearted, genocidal man."

Renos paused,

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. If I may, I have two questions. One, what happened to RoXY? And two, why? Why got to all this trouble to bring me here under this ploy when you could have easily sent someone like Rek Mass to finish the job? I'm useless as a prisoner, and the little information I have you probably already know."

"I have power to back my claims and bravado, in all forms. Anyhow, it will all make sense in the end."

Then let's keep the story moving shall we? I'll sit here quietly until you're finished."

Renos settled in for the Overseer's monologue. The next image showed the detention facility,

"It was a shame that Watcher Nine had to go, but all loose ends need to be executed- I don't think that's how that phrase goes."

Renos grunted in agreement. The next image showed the Citadel,

"Upon your arrival at the Citadel, you were scanned. In a nutshell, I had a Fixer hack into the scanner to make it come back as positive."

Next, his office,

"Here, I had to make sure you were the one, the one actually intelligent enough and skilled enough for my 'master plan,' we'll get to that in a moment."

The ship,

"Here you met RoXY, the AI I created. But because I'm so nice, I implemented an unwavering loyalty protocol; she responds only to you. Think of her as a gift. She's the only one of her kind."

The resort,

"Not much to say but… thanks."

The dead drop on Lah'mu,

"I am actually impressed that RoXY was able to retrieve that information. After all, I am her creator. Anyhow, your agent was intercepted and the information destroyed."

The contact's communication,

"To be honest, I ordered you to murder me to throw you off… as well as for my own sick humour."

The attempted assassination,

"I really have nothing to explain about this but… nice try."

The holoprojector shut off and receded into the floor.

"Any questions?"


End file.
